Paul admonishes us to "present our bodies ( I wonder if he intentionally meant to leave out soul and spirit) a living sacrifice, wholly and acceptable to God which is our reasonable act of Worship!"
What did Paul have in mind? I wonder. He had the idea of Stephen who sacrificed his body to be stoned as Jesus sacrificed his body to be nailed to the cross. Bu they both literally died. Is not that the nature of a sacrifice, to die. They stopped living. It is a proverbial oxymoron. Either you are alive or you are dead. You cannot be both alive and dead at the same time.
What if Paul meant you have to die to the things that weigh you down, burden you, keep you focused on dead things that either do not matter or that they matter just drag you down. What if we learned to set aside or sacrifice the things that we so much want, that we think we need, but not really to embrace the freedom to live free and in faith both firm to our personal convictions but flexible in our compassion toward all others as well. The well of living water will be in us and the weight of death will float up river. The current of the rive of sacrifice will move all stones of stumbling and we will be free to Worship the God who is the Living Sacrifice, in whose steps we are to walk. We bow in surrender and rise to live free of dead things which is our reasonable act of Worship!
Free to Worship and Free to Live and Free to serve all to the glory of God.
About Me
- Don Paine
- I am a pastor and a clinical psychotherapist. My life's passion is defining healthiness from a human perspective and paralleling it to the holiness of God, divine perspective. Shifting perspectives creates a paradigm that is alongside of rather than over and against. The parakalein of God and the paradoxes of humanity are redefined. Humanity is all about winning and yet we are losing ground everywhere. Divinity is all about letting go of the desire to win and the fear of loss. The Divine embraces the world with loving care regardless of anything.
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