Daily Devotion

September 3, 2010

HE’S THE SOURCE…WE’RE THE RESOURCE

ROMANS 12:1

¹I 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.

Hopefully you have focused this week upon ways you can be a resource to God.   I find that this great verse of scripture speaks perfectly and succinctly to the fact that God is the source and we are His resource.  As Christians, it is our spiritual act of worship to present one’s self as God’s resource.

In Paul's day the Greeks believed that the spirit, not the body was what mattered.  To them the body was only a shackle and a prison-house; the body was something to be despised and even to be ashamed of.  They did not believe that they would be held responsible for what they did in the flesh.  There are many today who also believe something like this.  Christians need to understand that our bodies belong to God just as much as our souls do.  We must also realize He has paid the ultimate  price so that our bodies can be used as a resource for His ways and His will. (1 Cor 6:19-20).

Present your body, therefore, as a living and holy sacrifice…a usable resource.  Take all the tasks that you have to do every day - the ordinary work at the office, the home, the school; take the tasks that you perform in your marriage relationship, the parent-child relationship, and the co-worker relationship and offer all of it as a resource to God.  Nothing that you do should be done outside the framework of serving the Lord.

Many Christians find this incredible, but this is what Paul calls our spiritual act/service of worship.  We must never limit our service to God to only those things that we may do as a congregation on Sundays.  But it must include all that we do, "in word or deed" (Col. 3:17).

Lastly, do your best to be a great resource for the Source.  Be a resource that involves the entirety of your life - as a parent (Eph. 6:4), as a son or daughter (Eph 6:1-3), as a husband or wife (Eph 5:25-33), as a citizen and taxpayer (Rom 13:1-7), as a neighbor (Matt. 22:39), and as a friend (Prov. 17:17).  In every sphere of your life you are called upon to glorify God.  In every situation your spiritual act of worship requires that you present your body (what you do in your body) to God as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to Him.  

This challenge from the Apostle Paul can seem overwhelming to say the least.  It is not easy being the resource that God requires and deserves.  That is when we take a step back to remember that we are only the re-source…He’s the Source! 

RWW