A Holy and Pleasing Offering

"Therefore, I urge you, sisters, 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. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

Girlfriends, we learned in our study of Daniel what it meant to have resolve: to dedicate ourselves fully, mind, body and soul to Christ. Daniel did this everyday of his life on the easy days and on the days that seemed all hope was gone. He resolved to remain holy and unblemished by the world he was living in, he resolved to love the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his mind.

Do we have that same resolve? Can we say that we have resolved to remain holy in this crazy world we live in? One of easiest ways for us to grow our resolve in Christ is through prayer. Do we pray daily like Daniel? Daniel didn't just pray daily, Daniel prayed at least three times daily. Knowing Daniel's passion for God, I can imagine that these specific prayer times weren't the "well, while I have a few extra moments right now, I'll pray" type prayers. I'm certain that these three times were purposeful, isolated times, where Daniel gave his all to God expecting God to answer.

Today, we can offer so many excuses as to why we don't have time to pray or the ability to be holy. God has called us to holiness. He has given Christ not just to forgive our sins, but to take away the sins of the world. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming in the distance his words were clear, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) He has come to make us a new creation, not just to forgive and forget our transgressions! He has come so we can be holy. We can in Christ live a life that is offered up to him as a holy sacrifice!

I've posted a video before by The Passion for Christ Movement. I've found another that brings this all home. Don't forget to pause the music in the box to the right before playing the video.