WE OFFER OURSELVES AS A LIVING & HOLY SACRIFICE…
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CHRIS TIEGREEN*
A New View of God
I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. (Romans 12:1)
JESUS TOLD A PARABLE ABOUT three servants who were given a portion of their master’s money to steward. Two invested the money and earned increases, but one hid it away to preserve it, arguing that he knew the master to be “a hard man” (Luke 19:21). Of the parable’s many messages, one is that our perception of God determines whether we live with hope or fear, whether we will feel free in his presence or captive to his demands. How we see him affects our entire lives.
Many people have jaundiced views of God. They understand him to be a judge or hard master, the relative who always gives you what you need for your birthday but never what you want, the parent always pushing vegetables without ever offering dessert. Whether from bad experience, bad theology, or a little of both, these people live with the expectation that God will disappoint them. Even if they remain religious, they don’t remain devoted. They have lost their joy.
Scripture shows us a different picture of God—the winsome kindness of Jesus, the jealous lover in passionate pursuit of his beloved, the delighted parent singing over his child. This is the extravagant love that compels us to offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice. Every time we think we have a handle on God, he turns and shows a new face—not one inconsistent with what he has already revealed, but one that shines on another facet of his nature. And it’s always beautiful.
The world does not know this God. You do, or at least you are growing in your knowledge of him. Do you see the gap that needs to be filled? God is not going to fill it unilaterally. He is going to move his people—including you—into it through the power that works within you. Offer yourself to this God and show the world his welcoming expression. Unravel the myth of the hard master. Live as a worshiper for all the world to see.
Father, I offer you myself because of all you have done for me. Let me be a living sacrifice, acceptable to you, a reflection of your true nature. Amen.
*Taken from The One Year Salt and Light Devotional of Chris Tiegreen, a Non- Catholic.