1 and 111
When I hear the word worship, so often my mind automatically thinks “church” or corporate worship. The gathering of believers, singing, praying, taking communion, you know, “church.” But this falls so short of what worship could be, should be.
Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship.”
I don’t know about you, but I want to offer pleasing, true and proper worship to my Savior and God. I think to do this, it is important for me to truly consider what a sacrifice is, to the believers of the time. Those Paul was writing to would have been no stranger to sacrifices. When they went to sacrifice something to God, they did not haphazardly choose something. They carefully examined the animal/food, ensuring it was the very best, without any imperfections or defects. They did not give God the leftovers, but the first fruits. In Romans, Paul is telling the readers that they are now the “living sacrifice” given to God. I imagine reading this for the first time may have been stressful or feel unreasonable, as they knew God-worthy sacrifices were held to such a high standard. But they also knew that it was not impossible, because Jesus covered them as he covers us. We are now worthy because of the blood of Jesus.
There are 168 hours in the week. It is suggested that we get 8 hours of sleep each night, which is 56 hours of sleep a week. This leaves 112 waking hours a week. Each week we have set aside 1 hour for worshiping God on Sunday mornings (2 maybe, if you attend Bible class as well). But what are we doing with the other 111 hours?
In order to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, we must be living for God, all 112 hours. The 1 hour a week that we have set aside for communal worship is so important to fill us up, encourage us, and fuel our passion for the remaining 111 hours that we are to be in the world, but not of the world. God has given us each important spiritual gifts that we use as a church family to encourage each other, build each other up, and reach out to the community we interact with. Choosing to use our 1 hour in church is so important but may this not be the only worship we do. May all of our waking hours be filled with worship to God as we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, let our worship be pure and true.
Daily Reading: 1 and 111
Romans 12:1