His Salvation…My Worship

When I first accepted Christ as my Savior, I really didn’t understand all it encompassed. But at that point, I took all I understood about Jesus and said, Yes! to Him. It wasn’t until I was personally discipled several years later I really learned how to grow as I read His Word myself and got to see who He really is. His attributes were more than I earlier imagined.

The apostle Paul grew quickly after His salvation. If you want a full dive into the doctrine of salvation, just read through the book of Romans he wrote. Perhaps because Jesus had so radically turned Paul’s life around—from persecutor of Christians to one of Jesus’ most powerful defenders—Paul was able to write deeply about what salvation means. 

In chapter 12, he starts with the word therefore as he reflected on all he had written in the first 11 chapters filled with truth of who Christ is and all He had done to bring salvation to all people. So what’s therefore there for? Because of all this in Romans 1-11, what difference does it make?

In Romans 12:1 Paul writes: Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship..

The first thing Paul says is how our response should be to offer of our complete lives to Jesus. His sacrifice means our sacrifice is expected. We are to offer Him our thoughts, our actions, our time, our relationships, all that we are and all that we do. We are also to offer Him all our allegiance and worship. No other person or thing deserves that kind of sacrifice.

I have to evaluate continually if anything else has become my greater focus.

Am I looking to for something else to bring complete fulfillment, wisdom, and peace that only Jesus can provide? His great sacrificial salvation means I must sacrifice my life on His altar of love.

Lord, forgive me when I lose my focus on eternal things and what your sacrifice has given me! May I never substitute earthly things for who you are to me! Only You are worthy of sacrifice and worship!

Banner photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash