Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.

Romans 12:1-2, I URGE you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Three of us have been meeting for almost two years over an early breakfast, seeking to challenge each other to live a little closer to Jesus. The book we’re reading now recounts Paul’s passionate belief in Jesus Christ and challenges us to consider how we might have that passion, too. My first reaction was that it might take an encounter like Paul had on the road to Damascus with the living, resurrected Jesus; now, after reading this scripture, I wonder what might happen if I presented my body “a living and holy sacrifice;” I find it much easier to conform myself to the world somehow.

Lord, renew my mind and transform my thinking that I may present my body as a living sacrifice.