Tuesday, August 29, 2017, 6:36 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Oh, To Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer.”
Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Romans 12 (Select vv. NASB).
A Holy Sacrifice (vv. 1-2)
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of
God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable
to God, which is your spiritual
service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect.
Because of all that Jesus
Christ did for us in dying on a cross for our sins, and being resurrected back
to life, so that we could have new lives in him, we ought to give our lives to
God, to live holy lives pleasing to him. In fact, this is what it means to
believe in him, and to be in Christ by faith in him. It means we die with
Christ to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life, created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness. It means our lives are no longer
our own, to do with what we want, because we were bought back for God with the
blood of Jesus Christ, and we now belong to God, so we are to honor God with
our lives. It also means that we now live lives which are separate (unlike,
different) from the world of sin, because we are being made into the image of
Christ.
I think a lot of people think
of worship of God as a song service during a worship service in a formal
setting where we sing praise and worship songs together. But, singing is only
one part of our worship of God. The main way in which we worship our Lord is
with our lives via surrender, obedience, and walking in the Spirit and no
longer according to the flesh. If we ignore his commands, and we still live to
please the flesh, then we are not worshiping him no matter how enthusiastic we
are when we sing during “worship” time. Our Lord is not looking for what we are
willing to sacrifice or to give to him of our own accord, in our own way, and
according to our own thinking. What he wants is us on the altar, submitted to
him, and surrendered to his will.
Part of this worship of God
not only means we give our lives to him, to be lived for his purposes and his
will, but it means we forsake our lives of living to please ourselves. We no
longer conform our lives after the ways (attitudes, thinking, believing,
philosophies, culture, and behaviors) of this sinful world. We should stand out
from the world and be different. We should not immerse ourselves in our
societies and blend in with the world so that the world will like us. So, we
should not be giving our lives over to self-pleasure, entertainment, and to
doing just what makes us feel good, either. But, we should be considering how
to please God in all that we do, and we should be thoughtful of others and
their true needs, especially of salvation.
Sound Judgment
(vv. 3-8)
For through the grace given to me I say to
everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to
think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted
to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in
one body and all the members do not have the same function, so
we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members
one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the
grace given to us, each of us is
to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the
proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he
who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his
exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with
diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
What is striking me about this
passage of scripture today is this running theme of self-sacrifice, humility,
and selflessness. We can become so self-focused in this life that we lose sight
of God, and what he requires and desires of us, and we can lose sight of others
and their needs, too. So, we need to refocus our attention and affections on
our Lord, to hear from him, and to do what he says, and we need to keep our
eyes and ears open to see the needs of others all around us, and to help meet
those needs as God leads and directs us in what he would have us do. We can
become so inward focused, in other words, to where we miss out on opportunities
to share the love, grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus with others who need him.
As followers of Jesus Christ,
we all form one body, which is the body of Christ, his church. We, the people
of God, are his church, regardless of location or the distance between us. And,
we are to use the gifts and ministries God has given to us, as he directs,
within the body of Christ, for the mutual encouragement, strengthening, and
maturing of one another in Christ. Yet, God has not gifted us all in the same
way, nor has he given us all the same assignments within his body (see also 1
Co. 12; Eph. 4). We are all different, uniquely designed and gifted by God to
be used of God in ways which he had planned for us even before the creation of
the world.
So, not one of us should be
jealous of another or think we are better than others because of our gifts or
assignments, for everything comes from God, not us. So, we should do all that
we do for the glory of God and for the edification of the body of Christ,
without regard to our own giftedness.
Without Hypocrisy (vv. 9-13)
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor
what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give
preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in
diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in
hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing
to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
In what ways can we be
hypocritical in our expressions of love for God and for others? One way is by
lip service only, i.e. by saying we love God or we love others, but then by our
actions speaking just the opposite, i.e. by being hateful instead. Another way
is to stay focused on ourselves and on our own needs while ignoring the needs
of others, yet while vocalizing that we love them. How are they going to know
that we love them if we don’t show it? Words can be cheap if they are not
followed up with action. If all we do is talk about ourselves, or think about
ourselves and our needs, but we don’t inquire as to what others are going
through, and if we don’t show genuine interest in their lives, how will they
know that we love them?
Yet, at the same time, we
need to remain focused on our Lord, and on his Word, and never compromise our
faith or join in with the sinful pleasures of this world in order to “make nice”
with the world. It is not loving others with God’s love if we compromise our
faith and convictions in order to have others like us or think we are being
loving. Jesus was loving, but he spoke the truth in love, and he told people
what they truly needed, even if they didn’t respond with belief. So, we should
never feel that selfless needs to be godless so that humans will think we are
being selfless and not selfish. In other words, we should continue to hate what
God hates and to love what he loves, and to follow Jesus’ example for how to
love others with God’s love.
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Thomas O. Chisholm / W. J.
Kirkpatrick
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd
Redeemer,
This is my constant longing
and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of
earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness
to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of
compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and
kind,
Helping the helpless,
cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner
to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in
spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient
and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel
reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to
save.
O to be like Thee! while I am
pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill
with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy
dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven
above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to
be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as
Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come
in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on
my heart.
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