The Price of Worship
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” – Romans 12:1
Recommended Reading: Romans 6:12-20; 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. NIV
Imagine this Old Testament conversation: “John, I am headed to the temple to offer a sacrifice for something I did earlier this week. Could you give me one of your blemish-free lambs to offer? I only have one and need to keep him for breeding.” Or consider this modern-day conversation: “Mary, I made a commitment to donate blood at the blood drive. Could you go in my place and donate a pint of blood for me?”
What’s wrong with these questions? It’s obvious—the person who has an obligation or commitment doesn’t want to make a sacrifice to fulfill his duty. And yet that negates the very notion of sacrifice. A personal sacrifice costs something; “sacrifice” means we have less than before. That is consistent with Paul’s words in Romans 12:1 where he urges us to make ourselves a “living sacrifice.” Imagine asking someone, “Could you give your life to Christ in my place? I’d like the benefits but am not crazy about the cost involved.”
Worshipping God involves many sacrifices: time, money, energy, our will, and our decisions. We should count the cost before making the commitment (Luke 14:28-33).
“Consecration is resolution that is not afraid of sacrifice.” – Unknown
© 2013 Turning Point
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