Motivated by the Mercies of God
In Romans 12:1 we are told to offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice. One question we could ask is with what motivation we should do this. The answer is: out of gratitude for the mercies of God, which are described in the first eight chapters. Devotion does not come about through legal pressure, but is the response to God’s love for us, as John aptly writes, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).
Love Expressed in Devotion
The Son of God demonstrated His love for the Father by obediently going to Calvary (see John 14:31). His love for each one of us was shown in that He “gave himself up for us” (Eph. 5:2). Now we are challenged to be imitators of God and to show our love as the Lord Jesus did—through sacrificial giving (Eph. 5:1–2)!
God longs for a response to His love in your life. The Lord Jesus is looking with holy jealousy for you to give Him the best love (see Rev. 2:4). He desires that you surrender yourself to Him without reserve and live in devotion to Him.
Discerning the Will of God
This raises the question of what such a life looks like in practical terms and what exactly each of us should do for God. To find this out, we should examine “what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” for us. This requires dependence.
Paul mentions here in Romans 12:2 two things that help us to live in dependence on God:
- We shouldn’t be conformed to this world.
- We are to be transformed by bringing our thinking into conformity with the thoughts of God.
Questions About the World
Before we go into more detail about the dependent life of the Lord Jesus, let’s first ask ourselves how we can put the two points just mentioned into practice.
What does Paul actually mean by the term ‘world’? What characterizes this ‘world’ and why is it so dangerous for the children of God? What do the words of John mean, who writes, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)?
In subsequent devotions, a brief journey through the history of the Old Testament should help us to understand a little better why this subject is so fundamental for us today.
What does it mean for you to offer your life to God as a “living sacrifice”? How does devotion become clearly visible in your life in specific ways? What is it that motivates you to do the will of God?
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