Our Reasonable Service

Romans 12 begins with what we might call a conditional promise. The promise is that we will know the “good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The conditions are as follows:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. . . .

To know the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God, we must present ourselves to God. In the first 11 chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul writes about the fact that we are all separated from God by our sin. There is nothing we can do, through our own strength, to right our situation. But God showed His love toward us by sending Christ to die for us and forgive us of all sin. So in light of this, considering all that God has done for you, Paul says, here is what you ought to do: “present your bodies a living sacrifice.”

We are to present ourselves to Him as an offering. And offerings are not taken; they are given. Your life is something that you offer to God. It is a living sacrifice, however. Generally sacrifices are dead. Sacrifices that have been killed don’t squirm off the altar. But living sacrifices have a tendency to do that. So we need to offer ourselves again and again as living sacrifices.

The Bible also says this is our “reasonable service.” The word “reasonable” used in Romans 12:1 could be better translated “logical.” In other words, it doesn’t make any sense not to do this. A half-hearted commitment is illogical. So if you want to know God’s will, then present yourself as a living sacrifice.