Jay's Message-APRIL 25

Living Sacrifice, Sacrificial Worshipper

Romans 12:1, 2

Each Lord’s Day we follow Jesus’ command to remember His sacrificial death by partaking of the Lord’s Supper. In doing that we “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthi- ans 11:26). The first two verses of Romans chapter 12 teach us that God made a way for us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices through the compassion and pity He had for our human condition.

We come to Christ and accept Jesus’ death as the substitute for our own (2 Corinthians

5:21, 8:9). Jesus paid the penalty of sin on our behalf.

We must never forget that the purpose of surrendering to Him is so that we can then worship God as redeemed people, with an emphasis on sacrificially serving Him. At the end of Romans 12:1, we find the term “acceptable (or reasonable) service of worship.” The word in Greek means “worship rendered with emphasis on sacrifice,” Serving God as He sees fit will, absolutely, cost us something. Serving because we are saved people with a holy mission (1 Peter 2:9, 10).

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus taught those who followed Him to consider the true cost of discipleship, which included surrendering even what they possessed to Him. We rejoice and give  praise to Christ for His sacrifice; may we with equal enthusiasm consider the cost of true discipleship and prepare ourselves spiritually and practically to live as obedient disciples each day.