TODAY IN THE WORD

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Isaiah 6:1-8
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TODAY IN THE WORD
Visitors to the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington can now peer directly into the huge crater left by the volcano's deadly eruption on May 18, 1980. A new visitors' center brings the mountain up close, satisfying the curiosity of many who want a firsthand look inside the famous mountain. The volcano has been mostly in-active since 1986, and scientists see little danger of another eruption any time soon.

No doubt visitors to Mount St. Helens will gasp as they look into a crater almost two miles wide and more than 2ꯠ feet deep. They are likely to stare, take pictures, buy postcards, and go home with another vacation memory. But what would happen if a human being were to look on the eternal God?

The Bible tells us that no one can see God and live, so awesome is His presence. But the prophet Isaiah came as close to seeing God as anybody in the biblical record. In a vision, Isaiah saw God's holiness and glory, and he was utterly overwhelmed.

This well-known passage teaches us a lot about the God we worship and the ministry of worship itself. Evidently Isaiah was in the temple in Jerusalem when he had this awe-inspiring vision of God's throne (v. 1). The description of God leaves no doubt that Isaiah was dealing with the Lord of heaven and earth.

These verses give us a vivid word picture of God's majesty and glory. He is the eternally holy God, worthy of the adoration of angels who minister to Him in unending worship (v. 3, see also Rev. 4:.

The angels Isaiah saw are magnificent beings. Through-out the Bible, whenever an angel of God appeared to someone, that person was overcome with fear and amazement. But in God's presence, even the seraphs covered themselves in humility (v. 2).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Peter also felt overwhelmed and sinful in God's presence after Jesus performed a miracle one day in Galilee (Luke 5:.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Psalm 40:1-8
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TODAY IN THE WORD
One of America's largest companies recently surveyed 10ꯠ of its employees, asking what they would like to receive in appreciation for a job well done. The most frequent answers included things that had nothing to do with monetary rewards. For instance, those employees said they would appreciate getting a sincere thank-you from someone important to them, being asked for their opinion or input on business-related matters, or being part of a winning team.

In other words, these people wanted to be acknowledged and honored for what they had done. Our great God asks no less of us. He is worthy of our worship simply because of who He is. But God also deserves our praise for the great things He has done for us.

David knew that very well. He wrote Psalm 40 in response to God's deliverance of him from some unknown trouble. What believer cannot identify with David's feeling of being in a ""slimy pit"" (v. 2)? When you're in that kind of mess, you know that no one but God can reach down, lift you out, and set your feet on a solid rock.

God did that for David, and the psalmist responded with a new song of praise. But David was not content just to say thanks and go on his way. He marveled at God's faithfulness, recognizing that God alone is completely trustworthy (v. 4). More than that, God is infinitely good to His people, doing wonders beyond anything we can imagine.

We need to imitate David's example. We could spend the rest of our lives praising and thanking God for what He has done for us and still not exhaust the depths of His goodness.

But this psalm has another lesson to teach us. David knew that God did not want worship that was empty of real content. Even our sacrificial offerings are of no value unless accompanied by a heart that is ready to obey.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
When we review God's deliverance and His goodness to us, obeying Him in whatever He asks seems like the least we can do.

Perhaps God is calling you to take a step of obedience today. We urge you not to hesitate, because what seems to be a hard step to take now may be part of God's good plan for your life.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 5:23-24; Romans 14:19-21
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TODAY IN THE WORD
Writer Shannon Woodward relates this recent experience in a bookstore. A little boy came running into the store and rushed up to his father who was calmly browsing the children's books. The boy had a request to make, but before he could finish, his father exploded and angrily told him to go back to the family van. A few minutes later an older girl came into the store and tried to talk to the father. But in a voice that turned every head in the store, he screamed at her to go outside and stay put. As the girl left red-faced, the man calmly resumed his browsing.

Woodward watched sadly, amazed at the way this father erupted with anger and then browsed as if nothing had happened. Such scenes are painful to witness, yet if we are honest with ourselves we would admit this is often the way we approach our worship of God.

We may come into God's presence, ready to worship Him, yet we come knowing that things are not right ""outside,"" where family or friends are feeling the effects of our disrupted relationships with them.

God wants us to remove this hindrance before we bring Him our praise and our gifts--a necessary step of preparation for worship that Jesus addressed in the Sermon on the Mount. Today's text in Romans 14 declares the importance of remaining at peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ (v. 19).

Applying this to our worship, Jesus turned the situation around from what we might expect (Matt. 5). The problem here is not what others have done to offend us, but what we might have done to cause offense to a brother or a sister.

Why did Jesus state the case this way? Probably because we are a lot quicker to forget our own offenses than we are to forget the offenses other people commit against us. The altar Jesus was talking about was located in the inner portion of the temple, where solemn worship took place (v. 23).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Today's lesson is one of those that basically suggests its own application.

You may not know of anything between you and a fellow believer. If that's the case, the Holy Spirit can confirm that in your heart.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Psalm 2:1-12
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TODAY IN THE WORD
A few years ago, when archaeologists began excavating in the courtyard of a medieval monastery, they found seeds that had been dormant for more than 400 years that had begun to grow. King Henry VIII had closed the monastery in 1539, and the herbs tended by the monks died. But they sprouted to life again after the archaeologists disturbed the earth.

The world views God's kingdom much like those medieval seeds: dormant, forgotten, and buried like a long-lost memory. But when the time comes for the kingdoms of this world to be delivered over to Jesus Christ, His millennial kingdom will suddenly burst onto the world scene. Then everyone will know that Jesus is the true King, worthy of universal worship and praise.

Psalm 2 is called a royal psalm, and for good reason. In it we see the coronation and exaltation of God's ""Anointed One"" or the Messiah, Jesus Christ. To those of us who know Him, this psalm is an encouraging reminder of Jesus' ultimate triumph and a joyous call to bow down and worship our Lord and King.

But for ""the nations,"" the unbelieving world, Psalm 2 is a sober warning of the futility of trying to resist Christ's rule. Not only is Jesus the only Name under heaven by which people can be saved (Acts 4:12). He is also the only Ruler worthy to claim the allegiance of every person on earth.

The picture of God's breaking the rebellion of the nations and giving them to His Son to rule reminds us that the Lord we worship is also the Warrior who will defeat His enemies (Rev. 19:11-21). And the Savior we adore is also the Judge, who will shatter the opposition of those foolish enough to rebel against Him (Isa. 11:4).

Because this is true, the earth's peoples are given wise advice in Psalm 2:10-12. A kiss in this context is a sign of homage. Those who choose to bow down and worship Jesus Christ, taking refuge in Him, will be safe.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Is there anyone in your family or circle of acquaintances who does not know Jesus Christ as Savior?

Since this is almost certainly the case, we suggest making this weekend a time of focused prayer for a friend or a relative who does not know the truth. Ask God to lay someone close to you on your heart today, and begin to pray for that person's salvation. Or if you already have a loved one on your prayer list, bring that person before the King's throne in concentrated prayer.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: John 4:19-26
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TODAY IN THE WORD
According to the authors of a controversial new book entitled Time for Life, the average American has more free time today than at any time since 1965. Two time management experts studied the daily routines of Americans over the past thirty years to reach their surprising conclusion, which says that our leisure time has increased almost five hours per week in the last three decades. Knowing that most people feel more rushed today than ever before, the authors say more leisure time has actually accelerated rather than slowed the pace of life.

The fact that we have plenty of time on our hands should come as good news to those of us who want to be worshipers! This means we have all the time we need to spend in God's presence.

If there is anything we can conclude with certainty from our studies so far it is that worshiping God is not something we can do ""on the run."" We have to make it a priority. The wonderful thing about it is that God is ready and waiting to meet with us when we come to Him with a pure and sincere heart.

In fact, in His discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus revealed a mind-boggling truth. God is actually seeking people who know how to worship Him (v. 23)!

The woman was hung up on the argument between the Jews and the Samaritans concerning the place where true worship should take place. Unwelcome in Jerusalem, the Samaritans had established their own worship center on Mount Gerizim.

But Jesus stepped past the historical aspect of worship to focus on the spiritual. The worship God desires is not determined by geography, but by the condition of the worshiper's heart.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
The book we referred to above has some disturbing statistics concerning how Americans spend their leisure time.

On an average, Americans spend nine-tenths of one hour per week, about fifty-four minutes, on religious activities. Compare this to fifteen hours a week that are spent watching television.

Your commitment to daily devotions suggests that this fif-teen-to-one ratio does not reflect your week. But it never hurts to make a new commitment to spend time with the Lord.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Psalm 66:13-20
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TODAY IN THE WORD
Thanks to a nuclear submarine that was once a closely kept Navy secret, researchers are plumbing the depths of the Mediterranean Sea and finding a treasure trove of ancient shipwrecks. Five of the wrecks recently found date from Roman times, including a vessel dating back to about 100 B.C. The use of the submarine and other diving equipment has removed what was once a big limitation to maritime archaeology--scuba divers of old were limited to the shallows along the coast.

It's amazing what you can discover when you remove the obstacles that keep you from going deep. The author of Psalm 66 knew what it means to ""go deep"" with the Lord in worship, and he knew what could hinder that experience. This ancient Israelite had seen God meet him at his deepest point of need and answer his prayers. So he joyfully came to the temple to offer God the sacrifices he had vowed (v. 13).

But this worshiper was not content with private praise. He called on the congregation of Israel to join him in worship and adoration of the God who hears His people's prayers.

Whatever the psalmist's need had been, God had answered in a mighty way. All of the people needed to hear of God's deliverance, a testimony of His power, faithfulness, and love.

It's in this context that the writer set out a crucial principle of prayer--and by extension, a principle of worship itself (v. 18). Sin in the heart disqualifies the believer from enjoying the blessing of answered prayer.

This is not a call for perfection, but an exhortation to deal completely with sin before we come into God's presence in prayer. The sin that hinders our worship is sin that is ""cherished"" (v. 18), held on to in a selfish desire to have what we want from both God and the world.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll puts it on the line when he says we sin because we want to, because we have a desire for it.

That means we don't have to sin. As Swindoll points out, we need to pay some major attention to passages such as Romans 6:11-14, which reminds us that we have no business letting sin be our master.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Malachi 3:7-12
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TODAY IN THE WORD
Celebrated author Mark Twain read widely, accumulating a library of 3귔 books. Some of the volumes vanished during Twain's frequent travels, and many were purchased by private collectors after the author's death in 1910. But at a recent auction in California, a collection of 271 of Twain's books were put up for bid. One bidder was the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, a museum in the home where the Twains lived for seventeen years. The museum finally acquired the treasured books, but only at great cost. It took almost all of the small museum's reserve funds to outbid other potential buyers.

We know that anything of value has a cost attached. And things of great value can only be enjoyed at great cost. That's certainly true of worship. God doesn't put a price tag on what it costs to worship Him, but it's obvious that worship which costs us nothing is of no value in His sight.

God had to teach the Israelites of Malachi's day this important lesson. The Lord's indictment in Malachi 1:6-14 is a scathing denunciation of the way the people--even the priests--dishonored God by bringing Him the worst of their flocks. God told the nation it would be better to shut and padlock the temple doors than to bring Him useless sacrifices that were an offense to Him (v. 10).

The nation also held out on God when it came to their tithes and offerings. The people were not only cheaters in worship (v. 14)); they were also robbers (Mal. 3:.

What would cause people who claimed to worship God to withhold from Him even the most basic portion of their financial resources? (See v. 9.) The problem is not economic, but spiritual. It's not as if God is saying, ""Do you want to worship Me? Here's how much it will cost you financially.""
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
How can we know when we are offering God worship that is of real value to Him?

So far this month we have considered several measures of worship. Our heart for giving to God is one. So are the times we invest in worship and the purity of heart we bring into the Lord's presence. And obedience is definitely an ingredient of quality worship.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Psalm 97:1-7
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TODAY IN THE WORD
David Brainerd was an American colonial missionary to the Indians who died at the age of twenty-nine. His diary reveals a young man intensely committed to God. Brainerd once said to Jonathan Edwards: ""I do not go to heaven to be advanced but to give honor to God. It is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high seat or a low seat there...My heaven is to please God and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and to be wholly devoted to His glory.""

Clearly, David Brainerd had caught a glimpse of God that far too few believers experience. Once a person has been captured by the holiness, majesty, and glory of God, nothing else looks quite so bright.

One of our goals this month has been to help you gain a new appreciation for the greatness of the God we are privileged to love and worship. The writer of Psalm 97 helps to lift our vision to a new level with his description of a God before Whom the whole earth trembles.

The earth trembles because God controls the forces of nature. He can light up the earth with His lightning, and turn the mountains into wax (v. 5). No other god, no idol fashioned by the hand of man, has any claim that can match or surpass the one true God.

Yet the earth is also called to rejoice in the fact that our God reigns. Verse 2 suggests the reason. God is not a cruel despot or a whimsical tyrant who simply does as He pleases without regard for the consequences.

On the contrary, God's throne is built on righteousness and justice (v. 2). And because He displays these characteristics to an infinitely perfect degree, those who seek to know and worship Him can have absolute confidence in His character.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We need a vision of God like that of David Brainerd.

If we can see God as He truly is, it will take our worship and our entire Christian life to a new level. But sometimes there are other things--problems, habits, the needs and concerns of daily life--that block our vision and keep us from experiencing God as He desires.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Acts 13:1-3
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TODAY IN THE WORD
Officials of a Canadian mining company believe a new gold mine in Venezuela will be the richest mine in Latin America once it begins producing. Construction at Las Cristinas mine will take about two years. Then the mine is expected to produce one-tenth of the world's gold when it reaches capacity production, a projected total of 450ꯠ ounces a year. But in the meantime, the Placer Dome mining company is spending $600 million to develop the mine.

That's a tremendous investment, but everyone involved is convinced the reward will be worth the outlay. This is the expectation we can have in the spiritual realm when we take the time and effort to worship God in the way He wants to be worshiped.

In fact, as worshipers we have at least two distinct advantages over those who seek treasure in the ground. In contrast to the uncertainties of gold mining, our reward is assured because it comes from the hand of God. And His rewards are eternal, as opposed to temporary.

Today's brief text gives us another reward of worship. God reveals His will to those who worship Him. The church at Antioch had established itself as a premier fellowship, the place where believers in Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).

The story of how this great church began is told in Acts 11:19-30. Barnabas had been dispatched to Antioch by the church at Jerusalem when the elders heard about the work that God was doing in that city. So Barnabas went to find Paul and bring him to Antioch.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
When it comes to a subject like God's will, most believers think in terms of the ""big issues"" of life that are not clearly spelled out--things such as choice of college, marriage, or career.

But the truly big issues of God's will for our lives are already revealed for us in the pages of His Word. You can prove it for yourself by taking your Bible concordance and tracing the word will through the Scriptures. Another way to approach this study is to research what the Bible says about how to please God. You may be amazed at how much you will find.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Isaiah 12:1-6
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TODAY IN THE WORD
The formal transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese control this past July 1 marked the culmination of a long-anticipated process. The transfer was agreed upon between Britain and China in 1984, giving the island nation's people thirteen years to prepare for the change in government. For the Chinese government and Chinese communities around the world, July 1 lived up to its advance billing, the hand-over being accompanied by great pomp and celebration. Those who witnessed the ceremony will no doubt remember it for a long time.

There's another great ""transfer of power"" coming to this earth. It has been eagerly anticipated for thousands of years, and its arrival will fulfill all of its advance notices to the exact detail. It will be a time of celebration--and worship.

We are talking about the return of Christ to usher in His thousand-year kingdom from His throne in Jerusalem. God gave the prophet Isaiah a wonderful glimpse into that future day, and in today's reading we share Isaiah's joy.

This brief but important chapter is a two-stanza hymn of praise to God. In it, His Messianic King, Jesus Christ, has finally taken His throne. This gives us a foretaste of the worship we will experience when Jesus sets up His kingdom on earth.

The people speaking God's praise are the remnant of Israel, redeemed by God's mighty hand and enjoying the blessings of the Messiah's righteous rule in His millennial kingdom. In verses 1- 3, the remnant praises and worships God for the great salvation He has accomplished for His people.

Then in verses 4-6, the remnant calls on all the people of the earth to join them in worship and exaltation of God. The arrival of God's long-promised kingdom will vindicate His great name before every nation. The only proper response to the ""glorious things"" God has done and will do in the Millennium: offer Him thanks, sing His praises, and shout aloud for joy (vv. 4-6).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Imagine one thousand years spent worshiping our wonderful Savior and King!

It will take that long to even begin expressing our gratitude for our salvation. And the Millennium is just the beginning. When we are in heaven, our praise and worship will never cease (see tomorrow's study). Since that's the case, we had better be practicing worship as a way of life down here!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:4-5
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TODAY IN THE WORD
The trait known as rugged individualism is viewed by many to have played a large role in building this country. The image of the stalwart pioneer and the lone cowboy, forging a trail in the wilderness and across the plains, has been raised to a mythic level by several generations of Hollywood epics and stories by American writers.

But our national love of individual achievement and individualism has to a large degree degenerated into the cult of the self. The church has suffered from this downward movement, with many people identifying themselves as Christians, yet saying they have no need of the organized church.

Individualized, privatized worship is one result of this trend. However, the New Testament is clear that worship is much more than the private acts of individual believers. There is a corporate aspect to worship that we dare not overlook. We are called to join with the other members of the body of Christ to offer our worship to Him.

Peter gives us a compelling picture of the church as the living, breathing human equivalent of the Old Testament temple--the place where God's priests offered Him holy sacrifices and His people worshiped.

Peter borrowed the imagery of the temple to describe believers today as a ""spiritual house"" (v. 5). He was not talking about the bricks and wood that make up church buildings, but the people of God who are His temples, both individually (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and corporately.

It's quite a picture Peter gives us: Christians being built together to form this spiritual house that is founded on Christ, the ""living Stone"" (v. 4). When the church comes together in worship, we are not just a collection of individuals gathering at an agreed-upon time.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
As Christians, we need to reaffirm our identity as members of the body of Christ and the vital role that corporate worship is designed to play in our lives.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Revelation 4:1-11
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TODAY IN THE WORD
In The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis said of heaven: ""At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but...we cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.""

The longing for heaven that Lewis describes is universal among God's people. We who love and worship God here on earth cannot help but look forward to the day when we will be on the other side of the heaven's door and see the Lord as He is.

During his exile on the island of Patmos, the apostle John was allowed to step behind the door and see heaven in a vision. He was told, ""Write down everything you see,"" by the One whose voice was like a trumpet--the risen Jesus Himself (Rev. 1:11). John then saw a scene of worship that we can never fully comprehend on this side of eternity.

We said earlier that in heaven worship is an eternal activity. Revelation 4 confirms this. Before showing John the events of the end times and eternity, Jesus showed the apostle the heavenly throne from which these events originate.

What an overwhelming vision John must have had! Under the Holy Spirit's inspiration he drew on the most dazzling terms he could find to describe his vision of God seated on His throne. John also witnessed a great array of heavenly beings who surround God with endless praise and worship (vv. 6-9).

Bible teachers differ on the identity of the twenty-four elders. The fact that they are dressed in white, lay their crowns before God, and praise Him for His creative power suggests these beings represent humanity in its redeemed state. If so, the worship of the twenty-four elders gives us a taste of the worship we will give to God for all eternity (vv. 10-11)!
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Even though we are still on this side of the door, we have the privilege of worshiping in God's holy presence.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Hebrews 1:1-9
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TODAY IN THE WORD
Television personality Art Linkletter became famous for his refreshing and often humorous conversations with children. One of Linkletter's most memorable exchanges took place when he asked a little boy about the picture he was drawing.

""It's a picture of God,"" the boy replied.

When Linkletter told the boy that no one knows what God looks like, he replied confidently: ""They will when I get through.""

Give the little guy an ""E"" for effort. His desire to show people what God is like is admirable. There's a lot we do not know about God's appearance--but there's one thing we do know about Him. God Himself wanted us to know Him so much that He revealed Himself to us in the Person of Jesus.

It's natural for us to want to know and to see God. He has put this intense desire in the hearts of His worshipers. And we know that some day this longing will be fulfilled when we see Him ""as he is"" (1 John 3:2). In the meantime, we can know and worship God through His Word, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us, and through His Son Jesus.

It might seem that those who were able to see Jesus in His earthly life have an advantage over us today. After all, Jesus told Philip: ""Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father"" (John 14:9).

But Jesus also told Thomas that those who believe but did not get to see and touch His resurrected body--that's us--are ""blessed"" (John 20:29, see also November 29). This shows that believing in Jesus as God is the real issue--not merely being able to see Him in person.

Since this is true, we are at no real disadvantage today. Through the eyes of faith, we can see and know the God we worship with the same degree of certainty as those who walked with Jesus on earth. The Holy Spirit's ministry is to reveal Jesus to us.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
If you want to make Thanksgiving special this year, invite the risen, living Christ to your table.

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Matthew 6:16-18
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TODAY IN THE WORD
""Hide the fugitive, and do not betray the refugee."" This was the slogan adopted by Rudy and Betty de Vries, who lived in Holland during World War II under Nazi occupation. These names probably aren't familiar to most, but they are dear to the hundreds of Jews whose lives they saved.

Rudy and Betty were ordinary people--owners of a butcher shop--but God had an extraordinary job for them. Not a day went by when they didn't secretly ship meat to starving Jews, hide them, or acquire counterfeit coupons for them.

They never received any medals, and they are not widely known. And this is how they prefer it--they did not do their work for the recognition of people, but out of their love for Christ.

That's the way it is with our worship. It may be done in public and often is. It can be a witness to others and often is. But worship is not intended to be a public spectacle. It has an entirely different purpose.

Jesus taught His disciples this important truth in relation to several elements of worship. We have talked about giving and prayer (Matt. 6:1-15). A third aspect of worship that is less common in most circles today is fasting, abstaining from food for a certain period to give undivided attention to spiritual matters.

Neither Jesus nor the New Testament writers gave strict regulations concerning fasting, since it was to be practiced as a matter of personal conscience. Jesus' concern was that we not fast--or give and pray, for that matter--in a hypocritical way to win points with people (v. 16).

You may have heard more about fasting than usual in recent months. Several prominent Christian leaders and national ministries are calling on believers to fast for revival and to express national repentance. When done for the purposes of concentrated prayer and waiting before God, fasting can be a powerful form of true worship.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
It may seem odd that we are talking about fasting only two days before Thanksgiving!

We all know the world's common perception of Thanksgiving: stuff yourself until you can't move and then play couch potato in front of the television through an afternoon and evening of football games. We hope your holiday will take a different turn!

[Soldier4Christ]

Read: Romans 12:1-2
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TODAY IN THE WORD
Occasionally God calls one of His children to give his or her life as an act of sacrifice and witness for Him. One such believer was John Harper, a Scotsman who was traveling on the Titanic en route to Chicago. Harper was scheduled to become pastor of the Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, but he never made it. However, another Scotsman who survived the disaster later told how Harper, clinging to a piece of debris, called out to his fellow countryman, ""Are ye saved, mon?"" He then quoted Acts 16:31 just before he drowned. The young man was not saved physically, but he took Harper's invitation to heart and put his faith in Christ.

There's no doubt that God works in mysterious ways with some of His people. But the vast majority of us are not called upon to make such dramatic sacrifices. We are called to become God's living sacrifices as we live out our daily routines.

Romans 12:1-2 reveals a facet of worship that we would never have arrived at, left to ourselves. The irony of the term ""living sacrifices"" would not have been lost on Paul's readers. In the ancient world, the very concept of sacrifice involved the death of the sacrificial animal.

But in the book of Romans, Paul was very specific about the kind of sacrifices God wants from His people. He wants our bodies, our minds--everything we have--so completely yielded to Him that it's as if we had died so that ""[we] no longer live, but Christ lives in [us]"" (Gal. 2:20). When we live for God in this way, we please Him and become an effective witnesses to His saving power.

How do we become living sacrifices? By a definite act of worship in which we bring ourselves to Him. Committing our lives without reservation to Christ may seem like a costly way to worship, but not in light of ""God's mercy,"" by which we were freed from sin's bondage through the death of Christ (v. 1).
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
As believers, we have an opportunity tomorrow to serve as Christ's living sacrifices by offering Him our gratitude.

Whether you will be with your immediate family or a larger group, you can help make Thanksgiving meaningful by sharing your praise for God's goodness to you. Invite others to do likewise.