ESOCS Devotional 12 September
TEXT: Romans 12:1-8 KJV
MEMORY VERSE: “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 KJV
Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which dwells in us. The Holy Ghost is of God. In time past, the Spirit of God only lived within the Most Holy Place in the temple; but now the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in us. We are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in us (1 Cor. 3:16). Apostle Paul stated again in 1 Corinthians 6:19, that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which dwells in us; we are not our own. So, God cares about the cleanliness of this dwelling place. An old adage says, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” In the Old Testament, temple of God was a physical building in Jerusalem, a dwelling place of God, or the house of God. In the New Testament, the physical body of every true believer is the temple of God. In the Old Testament, when sacrificing an animal according to God’s Law, a priest killed the animal, cut it in pieces, and placed it on the alter. Then, sacrifice was important, but God made it clear that obedience from the heart was much more important (1 Sam. 15:22).
The message from our text is that God wants us to offer ourselves, not animals, as living sacrifices – daily laying aside sinful acts and our own desires to follow him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal, and trusting Him to guide us. In addition, God wants us to be new people with renewed minds, living to honour and obey Him all the days of our life. But how can this temple of God be defiled? It is by conforming to the standards of the world. It is by yielding to the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19-21. Christians are warned not to be “conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2a) with its behaviour, values, and customs that are usually selfish and corrupt; if not, the consequences are as stated clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:17.
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Our refusal to conform to this world’s standard must go beyond the level of our behaviour and customs; it must be firmly founded in our minds. We must be “transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Rom 12: 2b) by the help of the Holy Spirit. This means re-education, redirection, and reorientation of our minds, thoughts, and actions. This is important because it is possible to avoid most worldly standards and still be sinful. Today, so many world standards have been ‘polished’ or ‘baptized’ to look godly, and so many Churches are adopting them. But carnality is carnality. Be wise!
CHALLENGES
- Are there world standards that you are finding difficult to renounce?
- Find out those behaviours that appear godly but defile your body, as per God’s standards.
PRAYER POINT:
- Ask God to help to keep your body as a living sacrifice unto Him to the end.
FURTHER READING: Psalm 40:6; Amos 5:21-23; 1 Corinthians 6: 15-20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; James 4:5
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ESOCS Devotional 12 September
