Reasonable Service
Reasonable Service
Romans 12:1.
The Christian life as ordained by God is meant to be a practical religion rather than tradition or systemic following of a preacher. A Christian is identified and verified by His practice of the tenets of God’s words. This word of God in conjunction with prayer is the laid down instrument of heart purification and continuous transformation. Therefore, our service to God is foremost the total consecration of our heart to God. It is His prerogative to use and direct us as He wills- 1 Corinthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. This is one key element missing in many believers today. Many are serving God on the pulpit and other areas of Christianity without recourse to the foremost demand of heart consecration. Thus, they continue to render unacceptable service and are unfruitful.
According to our text, there is a reasonableness (logical explanation) in what God demands from us and why He demands our entirety. First, He created us for His chosen purpose- Isaiah 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name:
for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him; Furthermore, He has supplied all grace to enable us- 2 Peter 1:3; Hebrew 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear; and then, He emboldens us with the gift of His abiding presence (the Holy Spirit)- 1 Thessalonians 4:8 …but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
The other part of the text talk about offering our live as a “living sacrifice” unto God. This is the expected reasonable response to the provisions and legitimate demands of God. It means you “take your everyday ordinary life (your sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around life) and place it before God as an offering”- Romans 12:1(MSG). Paul puts it in another light by saying “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”- Galatians 2:20.
Meditation: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
