A LIVING SACRIFICE – THE SEED
Romans 12:1- 2 says, ‘ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and
proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his
good, pleasing and perfect will’
God in this scripture of Romans exhorts us to be holy and pure in our bodies, and
in our minds. The process involves sacrifice. We are to offer our bodies as a living
sacrifice, and to have our minds renewed. This, the Bible says, is the only way to
please God.
Sacrifice involves pain and suffering; sacrifice involves fire, pressure and agony.
Sacrifice is not pleasant, and yet God says it is the only way to be holy and pleasing
to Him, the only true and proper worship. And God calls us to ‘offer ourselves as
living sacrifice’.... It is agonizing enough to be sacrificed by others, but self-
sacrifice takes this to a whole new level.
The ultimate example of sacrifice was first depicted in the Bible through Abraham
and his son Isaac, then through God and His Son Jesus Christ. Genesis 22 records
the painful story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the son of
promise, as a burnt offering:
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—
Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a
mountain I will show you.” (Genesis 22: 1-2)
The Bible records that the following day Abraham took his son, his two servants,
loaded up his donkey and set out for the place God had told him about - without
as much as a whimper and without any questions. What an amazing man of
obedience and faith! No wonder he became the Father of Faith.
Abraham no doubt had many questions in his head: God why? God how? Did you
not give me this child as a miracle, out of promise, after many, many years of waiting and