Human Sacrifices, And Getting Out Of Ruts.
Romans 12:1-2NKJV
Today, we get to talk about human sacrifices! This should be fun! Any volunteers?
In Alaska there are only two seasons: Winter and July. When the weather gets warm in the summer, the snow melts and the dirt roads become muddy. Cars drive on them, creating long ruts.
There is a sign along one Alaskan road that reads, “Choose your rut carefully. You'll be in it for the next 60 miles.”
Paul speaks of this in, Romans 12:1-2NLT And so, dear brothers and sisters, 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. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Why should we offer our bodies? Our wrinkled, sometimes diseased, overweight bodies with our near-sighted eyes and maybe partially deaf ears?
According to Leviticus, an Old Testament sacrifice was to be flawless, and without blemish.
You might think, “I fear that I don't measure up!”
However, we must remember, Paul is not asking for us to offer our bodies as a sacrifice for sin to appease God's wrath. Remember Jesus Christ already took care of that.
Therefore the sacrifice that Paul is asking us to make is not a "Sin Offering", but a "Thank Offering.”
An offering of praise for what Jesus has already done!
Hebrews 7:27KJV Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Through some extensive study this week, I found that our brain is a command center that directs the parts of our body through neurons. Neurons are linked together to create messages. The same message sent multiple times will create natural pathways. The presence of a natural pathway makes a thought easier to think and makes it easier for your body to send that same message again.
If we want to win the war in our minds, we have to be willing to rewrite our thought patterns, rewire our brains.
“I got my first car at age 16, I think I paid $2,000 for it. I wanted a killer sound system, so I put two huge home speakers in the back with an equalizer. To me, my sound system was worth more than my car.
The only problem was, I wired it myself, the next morning my car battery died. I jumped it off, and went for a drive, rocking out. The following morning, my battery was dead again. What was the problem? I wired it wrong.” P.H
Back to our text, notice the word, “Urge.”
Paul writes, "I urge you" He does not demand; He does not order. He pleads—He beseeches us to decide for ourselves... to choose.
Romans 6:13TM Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.
Say, “wholeheartedly and full-time; Say, “Sin can’t tell me how to live.”
Again the Apostle Paul writes, Philippians 1:20ESV as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Can you imagine, being ashamed 5,10, 20 years from now?
These habits or ruts are called in the Scientific field—RAS, or Reticular Activating System.
These are repeated thoughts creating paths in our brains, again, natural pathways are brain ruts.
Repeated thoughts of exercise, eating right, and thinking right are formed by RAS.
In the same way, over eating, passing along juicy gossip, overspending, depressed feelings, living with a victim mentality are caused by RAS.
Paul is precisely saying, It’s up to you to give your physical, as well as your spiritual body unto God.
I once owned a prize horse that had a tremendous pedigree. However, he had one terrible habit, all day long, he would pace back and forth in his stall, and I mean—non stop.
My blacksmith loved him and me, because this horse gave him a lot of business. His stall was always worn down, leaving nothing but a mess.
What was the problem? He made a rut in any stall I placed him in. To my remembrance, until the day that I sold him he lived in a continual rut. He made his one path, back and forth.
How sad. In the same way, if you've ever exercised, it gets easier as you stay on that path. Moreover, as you begin to eat right, you lose weight, you're making good pathways in your brain.
Romans 12:1AMP Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.
God is not asking you to crawl up on the altar and die. He is asking you to jump off the altar and live! Live for Him!
Let every act of your living body demonstrate that God is your greatest treasure!
Hebrews 13:15, talks of committing our lips to declare His name and praise God.
Hebrews 13:16, talks of being committed to doing good and sharing with others.
This is what a living sacrifice looks like!
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law, Galatians 5:22-23ESV.
“Fruitful living is life and peace—There’s no better life.” P.H
Listen to Romans 12:2AMP And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].
Pastor Jensen Franklin speaks of his dad often and what a great pastor he was, but he was obese, and died early in life, because of his bad habits, or RAS.
Again, Romans 12:2TM Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. (Sounds like RAS), Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Renewing your mind, getting out of the ruts, this brings freedom and liberation. Habits broken, while forming healthy choices, it adds years to your life.
Is this spiritual? You better believe it is. A longer life means—more souls to win!
My mentor, Doctor Joe E. Edwards, once told me, “Howard, always read, pray, fast, eat right, exercise. Make family time, and break the cycle. Get off the treadmill of self-destructive habits, and it will produce godliness!”
Here’s my prayer—First, be brave enough to recognize any rut you’re in.
Secondly, Ask God to help you break these chains of insanity. Doing, eating and thinking the same way, and expecting different results.
Listen, your mind tells you—you can’t, but God’s word powerfully expresses you can!
You can change, You can win, it all begins by rewiring your mind.
Nike’s right—Just do it. Will it be easy? No. However, God wants the best for you. Again, just do it!
Benediction.
