Therefore I urge you, 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.                            Romans 12:1 NAS

 

  In our entertainment dominated culture, it is a constant struggle for us, as Christians, to remember that true worship is not “just a song sung”. Singing is an expression of worship, as there are many Biblical expressions of worship, but true worship happens deep in the heart and impacts everything about the way we live before God.

 

   Probably one of the most profound expressions of worship for us is brought about by a devotion so deep that it compels us to present even our mortal flesh to God as a living and holy sacrifice. Although it is probably safe to say most Christians do not really engage in this expression of worship with any real consistency, still this verse of scripture says that to do so is an act of “spiritual service of worship” and in the King James, it says that it is our “reasonable” service! 

 

Our bodies are the temporal or temporary part of us that will not extend into eternity without first being transformed. Eventually, what is mortal is going to put on immortality. But, in the meantime, we live in a temporal or temporary, carnal house, made from the dust of the ground. Our greatest challenge in life, is keeping it submitted to God. But, the joy of Romans 12:1 is that worship is the key to doing that.

 

   But, to bring this home to us with a little more clarity, let’s look at how the Bible says this temporal flesh behaves when it is not rightly submitted to God.  Galatians 5:19-21 says this, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  When the flesh is not submitted to God, it is clear by the way it behaves. We need to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that we cannot consistently behave in this way and consider ourselves true worshippers of God.

 

   God inhabits our praise. He takes His seat enthroned as King upon our praise. The entire concept is about the transforming power of His presence. True praise and true worship is about His rulership in our lives. If we can shout, sing and dance in church and still live a lifestyle of the flesh, we have missed it and fallen prey to the snare of “religion”, which has a form of godliness but denies the power thereof. God never intended for worship to be just a formal exercise. In His heart it was always about when man reached up to know God, He reached down to manifest Himself to man. It is about relating to one another, touching one another’s heart. And, as a result, us being changed and transformed because of the nearness of His glory and His goodness.

 

   The good news is, that if engaging in “religious activity” that is not genuine worship results in flesh that is out of control and not submitted to God, the converse is true, as well! True, heartfelt surrender to the Lord and a worshipful heart results in an experience of God’s presence that empowers you to submit your flesh to Him too! And, according to the Bible, that looks like this:  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22-23

 

   I urge you, therefore brethren, to present your bodies….. The word bodies is the Greek word, soma, which can also be translated slave. Soma comes from another Greek word, sozo, which means healed, whole, restored, rescued, made safe, etc. The word sozo is translated in many other places in scripture as saved or salvation.  It is the picture of God’s will for us.  It is what Jesus died for. So, we could say that Romans 12:1 is saying,  “Present your delivered, protected, healed,  preserved, saved, whole body, which you have made your slave, as a living sacrifice to God. And do it by surrendering yourself to Him from your heart, in deep devotion and worship! This is a spiritual expression and is your reasonable service of WORSHIP!”  If we can do that. He will seat Himself enthroned upon our heart of praise for Him and take up rulership over us. The spiritual power of His anointing goes into action on our behalf and we are energized and empowered for the life and fruit of His Spirit to spring forth out of our lives!

 

   So, indeed, I do urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God to avail yourself of this most amazing principle! Let this word cause faith to arise in your heart, that you can worship Him, in faith believing, with all of your heart and out of that worship, be empowered to present your whole body, your flesh, to Him, as well.  Be released by the goodness of His presence into the capacity to walk in the Spirit. Your worship can take you there!

 

 

 

 

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