Freely Speaking with Angela

Do those words "living sacrifice" make you think of one of the “Giants” of the faith, someone like the world-famous evangelist Billy Graham, the missionary/martyr Jim Elliott, or perhaps the saintly Mother Teresa?

Although each one of these great ones became that living sacrifice and shared Christ with a lost and hurting world, and although I admire them greatly, they aren’t the only ones I think of when I consider the Apostle Paul’s urgent call to be that living sacrifice.

It becomes very personal for me when I read this verse, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life–your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life–and place it before God as an offering” (Romans 12:1 MSG).

So, who is this “living sacrifice”?  It’s the one who lives every day giving all of their heart to their Heavenly Father, and that act of worship overflows into acts of service for those around us.

It’s the co-worker, the Sunday School teacher, the housewife, the caregiver, the writer, and the friend. It’s the one who offers encouragement and hope to the broken-hearted or overwhelmed. It’s the one who prays for your healing or shares a meal, a card, or a phone call when you are hurting or in need. It’s the one who gives freely to sow into ministries and missionaries that continue to share the gospel. It’s you, my sister. It’s me.

God hasn’t asked me to go to a foreign land or speak to thousands of people. He simply called me to give Him my every-day, ordinary life, lay it before Him, and serve others as an act of worship to Him.

Whatever we do to serve others will pour out from a heart full of love for the One we serve first of all. How can you serve someone today in a way that brings glory to the God you serve?