Pleasing God – Practical Worship

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1 (NIV)

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Why does God want your body? Why doesn’t he say, “Offer your spirit”?

It’s because without your body you can’t do anything on this planet. In eternity, you’re going to get a new, improved, upgraded body but while you’re here on earth God says, “Give me what you’ve got!” He’s just being practical about worship.

You’ve heard people say, “I can’t make it to the meeting tonight but I’ll be with you in spirit.” Do you know what that means? Nothing. It’s worthless! As long as you’re on Earth your spirit can only be where your body is! If your body isn’t there, neither are you!

In worship we are to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices.” Now, we usually associate the concept of sacrifice with something dead, but God wants you to be a living sacrifice. He wants you to live for him!

However, the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, and we often do that. We sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” on Sunday, then go AWOL on Monday.

In the Old Testament, God took pleasure in the many sacrifices of worship because they foretold of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. Now, God is pleased with different sacrifices of worship: thanksgiving, praise, humility, repentance, offerings of money, prayer, serving others, and sharing with those in need.

Real worship costs. David knew this and said, “I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24 TEV). One thing worship costs us is our self-centeredness. You cannot exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don’t worship to be seen by others. You deliberately shift the focus off yourself.

When Jesus said, “Love God with all your strength” (Luke 10:27), he was pointing out that worship takes effort and energy. It is not always convenient or comfortable, and sometimes worship is a sheer act of the will – a willing sacrifice. .....Rick Warren