Living Sacrifice
Romans 12:1
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
Several years ago I was on a date down in the DC/Baltimore area (everything down there just kind of merges into one area and one huge traffic jam). By the time the night came to a close, it was late and I was tired. On one of the "95'" beltways down there (695, 495, etc.) I went the wrong way and wound up in the early morning close to the Port of Baltimore. Realizing that I had run out of land, I surmised that I had to turn around.
As an aside, here in California, the traffic jams are massive. Last night Lina and I went to meet a friend up in L.A. for Korean food. It took us over two hours to get there (but) later in the night, about 50 minutes to get back to her parents place. I am thinking that it might be wise to get one of of those vehicles that tourists sit in that go both on land and in the water when visiting big cities. I don't remember what they are called...all I remember is that when we sat in one and toured Boston, the mocking Beantowners kept going "Quack" so maybe they are called Duckies? If we had one of those last night, we could have cruised up the Pacific, landed at Santa Monica, and headed to dinner.
Anyway, that night coming back from DCWashBalt, it was getting very late. So, I stopped for some awful but strong coffee at a convenience store. I chugged the Joe down and got pretty wired. I headed back home. While driving at 3:00 am or so, I was messing around with the radio, trying to find something interesting to listen to. I came across a preacher who was speaking about Romans 12:1.
He said, in his Southern twang, "You know, the problem with Living Sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar." That has to be the funniest slash most profound combo quote I have ever heard.
In Old Testament times, the Jews on the way to the Temple were not supposed to find some roadkill and plop it on the altar as their sacrificial offering. The residing priest would have busted them up if they had tried...he was to protect the sanctity of the altar. Also, on the practical end, he got to eat a portion of the sacrifices (a holy bbq) so he wouldn't permit trifling dead crap anywhere near the Temple. Neiher were they to bring an unacceptable type of animal like a rat and say, "Here you go, Levi!"
No, the Jews were to bring their best and proper sacrifices. We like to think that God doesn't pay attention to when we don't bring ourselves to His altar and say, "Do as you wish." Nope, we want to throw a couple of bucks in the offering plate and run. God doesn't want our money. He wants us. If He has us, He will get our money, too.
God didn't try to redeem us with a dead animal with flies buzzing around the carcass or a squirming weasel. Satan would have laughed and been able to say "No deal. You can't redeeem someone or something with an item of lesser value. The accounting doesn't work that way." See, Satan abides by the rules when it is to His advantage.
God gave His best. Christ. He climbed to the Cross. Now, that's a gift. We need to give him our best. Us. Come, don't crawl away.
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
Several years ago I was on a date down in the DC/Baltimore area (everything down there just kind of merges into one area and one huge traffic jam). By the time the night came to a close, it was late and I was tired. On one of the "95'" beltways down there (695, 495, etc.) I went the wrong way and wound up in the early morning close to the Port of Baltimore. Realizing that I had run out of land, I surmised that I had to turn around.
As an aside, here in California, the traffic jams are massive. Last night Lina and I went to meet a friend up in L.A. for Korean food. It took us over two hours to get there (but) later in the night, about 50 minutes to get back to her parents place. I am thinking that it might be wise to get one of of those vehicles that tourists sit in that go both on land and in the water when visiting big cities. I don't remember what they are called...all I remember is that when we sat in one and toured Boston, the mocking Beantowners kept going "Quack" so maybe they are called Duckies? If we had one of those last night, we could have cruised up the Pacific, landed at Santa Monica, and headed to dinner.
Anyway, that night coming back from DCWashBalt, it was getting very late. So, I stopped for some awful but strong coffee at a convenience store. I chugged the Joe down and got pretty wired. I headed back home. While driving at 3:00 am or so, I was messing around with the radio, trying to find something interesting to listen to. I came across a preacher who was speaking about Romans 12:1.
He said, in his Southern twang, "You know, the problem with Living Sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar." That has to be the funniest slash most profound combo quote I have ever heard.
In Old Testament times, the Jews on the way to the Temple were not supposed to find some roadkill and plop it on the altar as their sacrificial offering. The residing priest would have busted them up if they had tried...he was to protect the sanctity of the altar. Also, on the practical end, he got to eat a portion of the sacrifices (a holy bbq) so he wouldn't permit trifling dead crap anywhere near the Temple. Neiher were they to bring an unacceptable type of animal like a rat and say, "Here you go, Levi!"
No, the Jews were to bring their best and proper sacrifices. We like to think that God doesn't pay attention to when we don't bring ourselves to His altar and say, "Do as you wish." Nope, we want to throw a couple of bucks in the offering plate and run. God doesn't want our money. He wants us. If He has us, He will get our money, too.
God didn't try to redeem us with a dead animal with flies buzzing around the carcass or a squirming weasel. Satan would have laughed and been able to say "No deal. You can't redeeem someone or something with an item of lesser value. The accounting doesn't work that way." See, Satan abides by the rules when it is to His advantage.
God gave His best. Christ. He climbed to the Cross. Now, that's a gift. We need to give him our best. Us. Come, don't crawl away.
Comments