Be a living sacrifice

"Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Romans 12:1 BSB

In an article posted in Sarnia This Week titled, "75-year-old runner encourages kids to ‘do your best’," it was reported that Ray Tucker, 75, completed the Brantford Rotary Classic Run 10k in just over 50 minutes Sunday. After describing his relationship with running throughout the years and why he plans to continue hitting the pavement, Ray said he hopes people seeing “this old guy doing stuff” will be inspired. “I’ve been running with the Brantford track club the last couple of years, partly for myself and partly to try to motivate the young kids,” said Tucker. He said his message to kids is: “…Do your best, continue on with athletics – whatever it might be, keep healthy.” “It doesn’t matter whether you come first, second or third, just do your best. Do something personal, something for you, because not everybody’s going to win. Take some positives, run a PB (personal best), whatever it might be. And most kids do.”

And you know, doing our very best is not only a goal we should strive to achieve physically but spiritually as well. You see, the Bible tells us that believers are to offer their “bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” What does that mean exactly? Rylie Fine describes it this way: To be a living sacrifice means to live every minute of every day as an offering and service to the Lord. It radically goes against our culture of self-promotion and making our own dreams come true. It means laying down our own ambitions, dreams, gifts, and fears, and telling God, “Do whatever you want with me. I am your servant.” Armed with that mindset, we must be ready to reject things that do not line up with God’s word, devote ourselves to having our minds renewed, and to learn how to discern the will of God for our lives.

So knowing that only those sacrifices that are good, pure and unblemished are "holy and pleasing to God," let us all strive to give our "personal best" to Him and inspire others to do the same. After all, is there any other goal more satisfying and more worth pursuing?

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that You want our complete, whole and undivided worship which is something we can only give when we offer our whole lives to You. Lord, spur us to pursue excellence in every area of our lives, giving You the glory for all of it, that we might inspire others to seek You because of our example. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!