One of the more popular television programs these days is The Walking Dead. The series, based on a comic book series by the same title, depicts life in a post-zombie apocalypse. Survivors struggle to rescue society from “Walkers” (zombies) who threaten their existence. Though the zombies seem somewhat alive, they are actually dead and are merely shells of former human bodies.
While the show is purely science fiction, there is a sense in which following Jesus calls for us to be alive and dead at the same time. Jesus calls us to be a “living sacrifice.”
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. – Romans 12:1
What Does It Mean to be A Living Sacrifice?
The term “living sacrifice” seems an oxymoron until we look more closely at what it means.
A living sacrifice is intentional.
Paul “appeals” to the Romans – literally he begs them – to “present” themselves to God. The word for present was a common word in the worship practice of their day. The word meant to bring something to the altar as a sacrifice. Paul begged them to bring an offering of themselves, their lives, their daily existence.
The “living” part of the sacrifice involves our own desires, preferences, and decisions. It involves our relationships to family and others. It involves our jobs, our priorities, and even our possessions. A living sacrifice offers every part of life over to God as a sacrifice. Living sacrifices intentionally, daily, and voluntarily surrender their daily existence to God, His purposes, and His precepts.
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A living sacrifice is costly.
In Paul’s day, sacrifices did not survive the worship experience. To offer a sacrifice meant you brought something that the worship experienced consumed. A sacrifice did not make a contribution to the worship experience, the sacrifice WAS the worship experience. Once the worshipper placed the sacrifice on the altar, he or she would never again hold it in possession.
Becoming a living sacrifice means that we will surrender what we hold as ours and give it to God. He may choose to use it and make it better, or he may choose to replace it with something better. A living sacrifice knows that it is God’s call. A sacrifice does not own, rather a sacrifice is owned.
A living sacrifice is purposeful.
Paul stated that the living sacrifice is “holy.” We often think of holy in terms of perfection, and there is a sense in which the word does mean that. However, the holy that we bring is the intentional act of recognizing that we belong exclusively to God. A worshipper did not bring just any animal to the sacrifice. Rather, he chose the best he had, an unblemished sacrifice. In fact, a pious worshipper would make sure he kept an animal ready for sacrifice. He would select the best, keep it from the rest of the flock, feed it the best he had, and insure not only it’s survival, but also it’s protection from any harm. No one gave God leftovers. True worshippers gave the very best to God.
As we present our holy, living, sacrifice, we consequently recognize that we exist for a higher purpose. We belong not to ourselves but God. Our appearance, possessions, or job does not define us. Our relationship to God defines us. We do not exist to make a living, we live to make our lives a sacrifice to God.
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A living sacrifice is pleasing.
Paul also encourages us to living in a way that pleases God. The word “acceptable” means to bring pleasure to the one to who it is directed. In the old sacrificial system, worshippers understood that the smoke that ascended from the altar reached the nostrils of God and please Him.
A living sacrifice recognizes that our lives are not our own. We live simply to bring pleasure to God who created us and redeemed us. A living sacrifice makes decisions and sets plans with the aim to please God not self.
What to Do?
We have a decision to make each day when we awake. Will we again on this new day intentionally and voluntarily surrender all that our life entails? Or rather will we live for ourselves, to please ourselves, and satisfy our own desires? That decision is yours; no one can make it for you. You will choose each day if you will climb up on the altar of sacrifice to God and present your life to Him. What do you choose?
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Consider reading the following verses in your quiet time today.
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