Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices.”
Some of you will have watched my thirteen short films on radical discipleship called ‘More Than Conquerors’. One of the films involved me taking a lamb and a goat up a mountain to slaughter them as sacrifices to God. At the base of the mountain I tied some rope around each of their necks and started dragging them along with me. The purpose of the film was to show that we cannot be forced into sacrificing ourselves. It has to be, as our verse says, a freewill offering. Paul urges us ‘to offer’ our bodies as living sacrifices.
I used the lamb and the goat to illustrate how traditionally when animals were sacrificed, some went willingly (the lamb), and some needed to be tied up (the goat). It soon became apparent as we headed up the mountain that I didn’t need any rope for the lamb at all. I thought I’d need it to get him up the mountain when we were off camera and then just film him without any rope. But no, he simply pootled along next to me all the time whilst I had to keep on yanking the poor goat every step of the way. I won’t ruin the climax for you but it’s worth watching right to the end. (See it at www.more-than-conquerors.com)
Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Not a goat, but a lamb. He was the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. Similarly we are to offer ourselves willingly to God. He won’t force us. This is the purest kind of voluntary service. So in our very self-consumed and self-obsessed age, here’s a good question: is God going to help himself to me or am I so taken up with what I want to make of my life?
Lord, I’m willing. Have your way in my life today. Amen!
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