Living Sacrifices

            My Father had a rather unique way of killing chickens for dinner. He would take the head of the chicken and tuck it under one of the chicken's wings and then rotate the chicken about ten times. The Chicken then appeared to be in a daze and would lay its head still on the chopping block until the ax fell. One day, my Mother had to do the process and so she did exactly as Dad had told her to do. She tucked the head under one wing, rotated the chicken and sure enough, the chicken's head was still on the chopping block. She didn't use enough force however to sever the chicken's head and so hit it several times until some red lines appeared on the neck of the chicken. After about 5 small whacks, the chicken woke up and was ready to leave the chopping block as soon as possible. When you are alive and placed on the chopping block, your natural desire is to get off as soon as possible. Romans 12:1 says, “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.” 

             Most sacrifices are dead when placed on the altar. Paul, however, in this passage uses a different term and a mixture of words to give a new picture to sacrifice. He remarks that we are the sacrifices and that we are living sacrifices that are now on the altar. One college professor years ago remarked that the problem with living sacrifices is that they have a tendency to want to get off of the altar. That is the picture that we have in our daily lives. While being a living sacrifice is pleasing to God, we sometimes find ourselves slipping off of the altar. In fact, it is not necessarily slipping, but running as fast as we can. Paul does however go on in Romans 12:2 to inform us of how we are to actually do the sacrifice. It goes on to say, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” There is that transformation process that is going on in your spiritual life that is producing a change. The passage says that we are being “transformed.” This is the metamorphosis that is going on day by day in your spiritual life and it is taking place by the renewing of your mind. Most, if not all, of our problems in life begin in our own minds. The impure thoughts, the gossip, the accusations cause us to go off on wild tangents that lead us down the road of discouragement and depression. We not try to remove ourselves from the altar but to trust the LORD in all things each and every day. It has always been interesting to note that many sins begin with covetousness. To covet something, will often begin in the mind as a desire to have something that is not yours but you still endeavor to try to get it any way that you can even if it involves doing something that is contrary to God's will. Ministries have gone down the tubes as a result of a person coveting another person's spouse. There was a reason that God said, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife...” or anything else that is thy neighbor's. It can be your neighbor's wife, car, home, fishing rod, computer or anything else that he or she has. If coveting begins in the mind, then that is the place for “renewal” as Romans 12:2 exhorts us to do. Take the exhortation from Romans 12 seriously and make sure you remain on the altar of sacrifice even as a living sacrifice and to not seek to crawl off of the altar. Praise God for His guidance in the practical areas of our lives.