Read: Romans
12:1-5
I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
Throughout history,
there have been many acts of heroism in war. Perhaps the greatest examples came
during World War II because it was such a massive conflict, but heroic acts
continue today. Inevitably, when a
soldier stands before his superiors, or even in front of the President of the
United States to be rewarded, his comments are similar to those who had uttered
before him. He doesn’t see himself as a hero. He sees himself as merely doing
what he was trained to do – what “anyone else would have done in that situation.”
He was only doing what he had been called upon by his country to do. To him,
anything else would have been shirking the responsibility he had to his
brothers on the battlefield. Knowing the caliber of men that the United States
military can produce, these soldiers are not just saying those things to sound
humble; they really believe them.
It is a shame that a lot Christians do not
feel the same way about their service to God, which is a much higher calling.
They are not willing to give their lives in service to God, for that is asking
far too much. Their life belongs to them, and no one, not even God, can ask
them to give up the things that they are squeezing in their clenched fists.
They completely forget all that God has done for them. They shove the fact that
Jesus Christ left everything to become a man and die for them to the back of
their minds. They hide in the recesses of their thoughts the reality that every
single thing they possess is a direct blessing from God. All the things they are
able to enjoy are only because the mercy of God allows them to enjoy those
things. They go on with life, failing to realize that service to God is the
only reasonable expectation after all He has done.
If unyielding Christians would only stop
and think of all that God has done for them, they would recognize that serving
God is only doing what “anyone else would do if they had been so blessed.” Is
it so hard to take a couple hours on a Saturday to go visit the bus kids? Is it
demanding too much to ride the bus on Sunday to go pick them up and bring them
to church? Is it overbearing for God to ask us to go knock on doors and spread
the gospel to those who need to hear it? The answer to each of these questions
is, of course, “No.” God is waiting to reward us when we get to Heaven, but how
can we think ourselves heroes? To do anything else is to shirk the reasonable
responsibility that we have to a God who has given us everything.
Quote of the day: “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied
in Him.”
No comments:
Post a Comment