Giving God Our Reasonable Service

A Look At Romans 12:1

By Rev. Jack Howell

Text: “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” (Romans 12:1).

This morning I want us to take a look at giving God our reasonable

service, and we can read about this at Romans 12:1. So, if you
will, please turn in your Bibles to this verse. This morning, we are
going to learn what reasonable service is and what our attitude
toward it should be as Christians.
As Paul states, our “reasonable service” is presenting ourselves as
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. What’s Paul talking
about here? Let’s take a look at two “living sacrifices” that are
mentioned in the Bible:
The first example of a living sacrifice is Isaac(Genesis 22). Notice
that Isaac did not question his father Abraham, but willingly put
himself on the altar and would have died in obedience to God’s
will, but God sent a ram to take his place. Isaac “died” just the
same—he died to self and willingly yielded himself to the will of
God. When he got off that altar, Isaac was a “living sacrifice” to
the glory of God.
Our next example of a “living sacrifice” is of course, Jesus Christ.
He actually died as a sacrifice – a sacrifice for you and me in
obedience to God the Father’swill, but rose again, and is in
heaven today as a living sacrifice bearing in His body the wounds
of Calvary.
These examples of a “living sacrifice” presented themselves
willingly to God as a sacrifice and we ought to be doing the same
thing. Paul tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. The
word “present” is translated from the Greek word paristemi and
is a verb meaning “present once and for all” and denotes a
definite commitment of the body to the Lord just as a bride and
groom commit themselves to each other when they marry and is
the once-for-all commitment that determines what they do with
their bodies. Notice that Paul gives us two very good and
important reasons for this kind of commitment. The first is that it
is the correct response to all that God has given and done for us,
and secondly, this commitment is our reasonable service, or as
some translations put it, our spiritual service or worship. What
does this mean to us? It means that each and every day for us is
a worship experience when we yield our bodies to the Lord. Now,
lets take a look at what Jesus said along this same line. Turn with
me to Matthew 16:24 where we read, “Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me.” What was Jesus saying here?
He was saying that if we are to follow Him, we must give up all
right to being our own person. We must give up all right to say
“no” to God. We must give up all ownership of self to Him. The
person we once were must cease to exist and that means the
death of the flesh nature. Why? Because we cannot please God in
our flesh, that is in ourselves(Romans 8:7-8). We need to
remember that as Believers who are trusting in Christ, we have
been bought with a price and must glorify Christ with our bodies
and are not our own person anymore (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I
want you to understand something this morning. When you were
saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, the title and registration of
ownership were transferred from self to God! Some professing
Christians act like they are still part of the world with their worldly
conduct, and this ought not be! Remember, we cannot serve two
masters! (Matthew 6:24). With Christ it is all or nothing. There is
no middle ground, no room for debate or compromise. If you are
going to serve God then you must be a living sacrifice, serving
Him whole-souled, without reservation. Where do you stand this
morning? Are you giving God half-hearted service or are you
totally sold out to Him as a living sacrifice pleasing to Him? Have
you put yourself on the altar as a living sacrifice to Him?