“Brothers and sisters, God has shown you His mercy. So I am asking you to 1OFFER UP YOUR BODIES TO HIM while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is PLEASING TO GOD. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping Him.” (Rom. 12:1) 1paristēmi: to bring into intimacy with. God’s desire is that we would be in a intimate relationship with Him, dedicating ourselves to Him, making Him first please in our lives.
As the scripture says, “…do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear…But SEEK FIRST HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness, and all these things will be GIVEN TO YOU AS WELL.” (Matt. 6:31-33) Hanna, the mother of Samuel the prophet, was childless and she prayed and told God that if she could have a child she would DEDICATE HIM to the Lord. God gave her Samuel and when he was weaned she took a bull for a sacrifice. “When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.” (1 Sam. 1:25-28)
If I say to God in prayer, “O Lord, I give myself to You,” what I mean is this: I am saying a very earnest, “Yes!” to God’s purchase of me by the death of His Son so that I belong to Him, not only by virtue of His paying a price for me, but also by virtue of my WILLING SURRENDER TO HIM.
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham