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

This verse appeared in my Facebook news feed while I was entrenched in the battle of the scale several weeks ago. I have a lot of wonderful Facebook friends, many of whom are strong Christian ladies, and their encouragement from Scripture always seems to find me at just the right time. This particular verse really made me think and get my focus back on what's really important during this whole weight loss adventure I'm on.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, the animals that were sacrificed had to meet certain specifications. They had to be as close to perfect as possible in order to be considered worthy enough for the sacrifice to our Lord. Knowing that got me thinking. If I am to present myself as a living sacrifice, shouldn't I be working towards being the best I can be, and without blemish or stain so that I can be called worthy to be in the presence of God?

Now, please don't misunderstand me. I know that I will NEVER be worthy enough, and I know that I can't earn my way into the Lord's presence. He chose to save me while I was still a sinner, unclean, and living about as far from Him as a human being can get. The redeeming blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that I can count on for my eternal salvation, and I did nothing and can never do anything even now to "deserve" that. But, having said that, shouldn't I be striving to be as worthy as I humanly can? If Jesus lives in my heart, as I believe he does, shouldn't the body that holds the heart be as healthy and as "good" as possible? By changing my focus from the selfish desires of the flesh (being able to climb stairs, wearing clothes not made by a tent-maker, making my kids proud), no matter how nice they might be, to the Lord I have given my life to, all of the effort becomes if not easy, at least, meaningful. 

This whole concept was lived out for me the last time I was in the middle of a difficult workout. I was on an elliptical machine, and working very hard, sweaty, tired, sore legs, you name it, and I thought about calling it a day. I did 20 minutes, what does it matter if I didn't complete the workout. Who would know? Well, aside from myself, and the guilt I would carry from not achieving what I set out to, God would know. And in the middle of that thought, the lyrics from one of my favorite songs popped into my head:

I can do all things, through Christ who gives me strength. I don't have to be strong enough...

He's strong enough, for the both of us. Matthew West

As soon as I realized again that God had all the strength I needed, I just kept on going. I swear it was Him who finished that workout, and not my tired body, but either way, it got done! I want to honor Him, and he will give me everything I need in order to do that. It's pretty amazing in that way!

I've always said that I have a long way to go on this road of weight loss and getting healthy, and now it turns out it may be longer than I thought. Until I take my last breath, I will be striving to make myself a sacrifice to the Lord. The good news is, He is with me while I do it, and I truly can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

MR