Thursday, June 17, 2004
I appeal to you . . ., by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect.
-- Romans 12:1-3
From Following Jesus by N.T. Wright:
[P]resent yourself, your whole self (that's what Paul means by "body," actually), as a living sacrifice to God . . . We are called to carry Jesus with us wherever we go, so that at every moment of our lives we may be offering ourselves to him as a living sacrifice. That is what worship means. It must have focal points, corporate acts of worship, not least the Eucharist. But to stop there is to leave the glass half full. You may need to start there, but don't stop there. Why not fill up the glass, fill it to overflowing, with the glad worship of the true God which consists in a whole life lived as an act of gratitude, of glad self-sacrifice? That's the first thing: worship, worship that can be flat on its face in adoration and up on its feet following Jesus wherever he goes.
So nice, I'll type it twice: That's the first thing: worship, worship that can be flat on its face in adoration and up on its feet following Jesus wherever he goes.
This is rapidly becoming one of my all-time favorite books.




