Wednesday,  30^th April 2025

Alex Buabeng-Korsah

TOPIC: THE SACRED SURRENDER

THEME SCRIPTURE: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1 NKJV

PREPARATORY QUESTIONS:

1. How can a believer of Christ present himself as a living sacrifice?

Paul's climactic doxology - "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Romans 11:36) - crashes like a wave into the practical shores of chapter 12. That little word "therefore" in verse 1 of Romans chapter 12 connects theology to transformation. As Charles Spurgeon observed, "The doctrine of grace is the foundation of the duty of gratitude." As believers in Christ, we are to present our entire being as a living sacrifice, surrendered totally to Him.

We don't surrender to earn God's favor; we surrender because we've already received it. 

It's easier to die once for Christ than to live daily for Him. The early church father Ignatius, while being martyred, wrote: "I am God's wheat, ground fine by the lion's teeth to become pure bread for Christ." Yet his heroic death was preceded by decades of surrendered living.

Blaise Pascal, the brilliant 17th-century mathematician, experienced a dramatic conversion at 31. He sewed his testimony into his coat, writing: "Fire! The God of Abraham... not of philosophers and scholars. I will not forget your word. " For the remaining eight years of his life, this genius devoted his work to defending Christian faith, proving that surrender isn't the end of excellence but its redemption.  

What does total surrender to God mean? 

First, it means Rational Worship (logikēn latreian): Greek scholars note this means worship that engages mind, will, and emotions - total personhood offered to God.  Further, it is a sacrifice in the Continuous Tense: "Present as living sacrifice" implies constant re-offering, not a one-time decision.  And lastly, this sacrifice is to be Holy & Pleasing: Not perfection but consecration - as John Wesley said, "Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God... and I will shake the world."  

Precious one, why is that total surrender to God satisfying? 

A.W. Tozer wrote, "The reason why many are still troubled is because they haven't surrendered." When we withhold areas of our lives, we experience the torment of divided allegiance. However, as Hudson Taylor discovered in founding China Inland Mission, "God's work (purpose for your life) done in God's way will never lack God's supply."  

Will you surrender totally today to Him?

FURTHER READING: Romans 11:33-36

Call to Salvation: Today is your day if you have not received salvation by turning over your life to Jesus Christ. Click here to do so.

QUESTION TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD

1. Are there areas in your life you have not surrendered to God?

2. Which areas of your life are you struggling to lose control to God?

PRAYER

Father, today I present my body - not just my Sunday self, but my Monday hands, my Tuesday thoughts, my Wednesday desires, my Thursday dreams, my Friday comfort, and all. Nail them to your altar, that I may prove in living what Christ accomplished in dying, in Jesus' precious name. Hallelujah!

One-Year Bible Reading Plan

Romans 2; Judges 9; Psalm 119:33-64