Surrender

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.  Rom 12:1-2 (NASB)

We all want to know what God’s will is, but are we really willing to live lives that prove His will?  That means literally surrendering all rights to ourselves. 

Meanwhile, there’s the actual description of God’s will.  It is “good and acceptable and perfect.”  But, in whose estimation?  That’s where we frequently get caught.  It is not “good and acceptable and perfect” according to my estimation, but according to God’s.  That makes an incredible difference. 

It presents quite the challenge to me.  First, to open myself to be searched, to see how I am refusing to surrender myself as a living sacrifice.  I know the ways are many, but it’s so much easier to just glide through my day without truly surrendering to that examination.  Secondly, to surrender my concept of what is good, acceptable, and perfect.  To identify only with His estimation of those qualities. 

I know I am not going to like what I see as I open myself up for the digging.  But, it’s the only way I can truly become a living sacrifice who proves the will of God through my daily life.  And that’s honestly where I want to be.