What does it mean to give yourself fully to God? 1) It’s an act of worship. ‘Offer your bodies…this is your true and proper worship’ (v. 1 NIV). Worship isn’t just attending a church service, singing praises and saying prayers. ‘This people…honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me’ (Isaiah 29:13 NASB). It calls for surrendering your heart to God twenty-four hours of every day; whether you’re alone or in a crowd, at work, enjoying recreation, spending family time, at school, on a date or just walking the dog. If your heart isn’t moving you, your behaviour will only be an act of reluctant compliance rather than one of joyful commitment. Surrendering to God isn’t a part-time thing done for your own benefit; it’s a full-time act of worship done for God’s benefit. 2) It’s a response to God’s generosity. ‘In view of God’s mercy…offer your bodies’ (Romans 12:1 NIV). God doesn’t say, ‘If you don’t surrender, I will punish you.’ There’s no arm twisting. You don’t submit through clenched teeth because of fear; no, it’s a response to a debt. Everything God asks is initiated by His giving. Your repentance is a response to His love. Your giving is a response to His blessing. Your obedience is a response to His promises. God’s grace is never ‘a deal’, it’s the ‘free gift’ of His love to the undeserving (see Romans 5:18). Therefore ‘in view of’ – as a rational response to – His mercy, ‘offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.’ It’s your ‘true and proper worship’, and it will be ‘pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1 NIV).
