WILL, “God has shown you His mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your body to Him while you are still alive. YOUR BODY IS A HOLY SACRIFICE THAT IS PLEASING TO GOD. When you offer your body to God, YOU ARE WORSHIPING HIM. Don’t live any longer the way this world lives. LET YOUR WAY OF THINKING BE COMPLETELY CHANGED. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you…HIS PLAN IS GOOD AND PLEASING AND PERFECT…Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the amount of faith God has given you. Each of us has one body with many parts. And the parts do not all have the same purpose. So also we are many persons. But IN CHRIST WE ARE ONE BODY. And EACH PART OF THE BODY BELONGS TO ALL THE OTHER PARTS…just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, SO IT IS WITH CHRIST…But in fact GOD HAS PLACED THE PARTS IN THE BODY, every one of them, JUST AS HE WANTED THEM TO BE…Now YOU ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, and each one of you is A SEPARATE PART OF IT.” (Rom. 12:1-5) (1 Corin. 12:12, 18, 27)
When we think about what it means to be a member of Christ’s body, it is for the purpose of DOING WHAT CHRIST DID when He was here in person, “…He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, FOR THE EDIFYING (building up) OF THE BODY OF CHRIST.” (Eph. 4:11-12)
JESUS HAS A PURPOSE FOR EACH ONE OF US, HE WILL CALL US TO THAT PURPOSE AND EQUIP US SO WE CAN DO WHAT HE CALLS US TO DO.
-Bill Stockham