How Is Our Living Sacrifice a Sacrifice of Worship?

And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
I Peter 2: 5 (NLT)
Scripture: I Peter 2

The second devotion in the What It Means to be a Believer series, this devotion continues the discussion of what it means to be a living sacrifice. Topics today include a life of worship and behavior of worship.

Nuggets

By being one of His priests, we show others through our praise what He is accomplishing in our lives.
We are called to follow Jesus’ example, which means we need to change our behavior.
We continue to commit sins after we receive salvation, necessitating that we ask forgiveness of those sins.

To read devotions in the What It Means to Be a Believer series, click the appropriate button below.

We have been looking at what it means to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, the first item listed on our item listed on our Believers’ Job Description. We do this by committing to a life of worship. This changes our behavior as we make ourselves instruments of worship. (We’ll get into instruments in the next devotion.)

Life of Worship

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise him – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (Heb. 13: 15 NIV)

We were created to worship God. When we give our lives to God, we are to confess His Name. “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds” (Ps. 75: 1 ESV). We are now His.

We praise God. “He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes” (Deut. 10: 21 NLT). He is worthy of our praise.

We are to be priests. “But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things he has done” (II Pet. 2: 9 NLT). By being one of His priests, we show others through our praise what He is accomplishing in our lives.

His love just bubbles out of us. One manifestation of this is singing. “Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers” (Jer. 20: 13 NASB). (No, it doesn’t need to be on pitch. It can be your shower voice; it doesn’t have to be a performance voice.)

Behavior of Worship

And do not forget to do good … Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)

When admitting our sins, believing on His Son Jesus as Redeemer, and confessing Him as Sovereign Lord, we ask God to forgive us of our sins. Forgiveness changes us both on the inside and the outside. Repentance means we change our minds and our lifestyles.

If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,

have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,

and have not confessed your sins,

please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.

To read devotions in the Believe and Repent series, click the appropriate button below.

We are called to follow Jesus’ example, which means we should change our behavior. “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” (Eph. 5: 1-2 NKJV). We are going to get into more of what that means in the upcoming devotions. Let’s focus right now on when we don’t to as we should.

Unfortunately, we don’t immediately stop sinning after salvation. If fact, humans — believers, too — do not stop sinning while on this earth.

David wrote, “By your teachings, Lord, I am warned; by obeying them, I am greatly rewarded. None of us know our faults. Forgive me when I sin without knowing it. Don’t let me do wrong on purpose, Lord, or let sin have control over my life …” (Ps. 19: 11-13 CEV). He recognized that we still sin even if we know we shouldn’t.

That tells us that, try as we might, our behavior will not totally change after salvation. We will still need to work daily on being a living Sacrifice for God. We work on it by continuing to ask forgiveness of our sins.

Psalm 51 is one of those times David sinned, and he knew he shouldn’t have. And we are talking what we would call major sins — adultery and murder. The psalm is known for being a prayer for forgiveness for those sins.

We can learn much by looking at it more closely. Let’s look at it through the lens of Psalm 51: 17. It talks about how our behavior should be affected. “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God” (Ps. 51: 17 NLT). This psalm shows David’s broken and contrite spirit.

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night” (Ps. 51: 1-3 NLT).

A contrite spirit acknowledges the wrongs it has done. It is truly sorry for the mistakes and deliberate sins. It submits to the punishment and restoration process. Only by God’s actions and deliverance can we break free from sin. God has to purify us.

“Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just” (Ps. 51. 4 NLT).

A broken spirit knows its sin was against God. Yes, the actions were probably against flesh-and-blood people, but ultimately, it is against God.

We think no one else sees our sins. But our behavior — even our mindset — is seen by God. He knows when we have sinned.

“For I was born a sinner — yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51: 6-7 NLT).

Because of Adam and Eve’s behavior was a sin, we are sinners from birth. God has provided a way for His relationship with us to be restored.

To read How Do We Not Bite When Satan Says Bite?, click the button below.

“Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me — now let me rejoice” (Ps. 51: 8 NLT).

Mankind is a hard-hearted race. We have to be broken before we will even listen to what God has to say. That brokenness leads to the contrite heart, which leads to forgiveness and joy.

“Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (Ps. 51: 9-10 NLT).

Fortunately, when we ask for forgiveness, God will forgive us of our sins. David was a murderer and an adulterer. God forgave Him.

The ultimate reward for believing in God is a clean heart and a renewed spirit. While those won’t fully be received until we get to Heaven, we do work toward then while we are here on earth. We do that by following Jesus’ example.

To read devotions in the What Does It Mean series, click the appropriate button below.

“Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (Ps. 51: 11-12 NLT).

God’s forgives allows the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. Even though He could rightly punish us severely, He has promised He will never turn away from us. That gives us a joy that is indescribable.

But look back at Verses 11 and 12. David has committed these heinous crimes, and he is asking for mercy and restoration. That is forgiveness!

Then look at the last part “… make me willing to obey you” (Ps. 51: 12 NLT). When we obey someone, we do what they say. In essence, David is asking God to change his mindset to make him willing to do what God asks of him.

Once we have this joy, we want to tell others. We allow ourselves to be used as instruments for God.

Loving God. You created us to worship You. You devised a plan in that restored our relationship with You. You forgive us when we ask. You continue to forgive us as we continue to sin and ask forgiveness. Help us to withstand the temptations that Satan throws at us each day. Change our mindset to be willing to do what You ask of us. Amen.

What do you think? When you asked Jesus to be your Redeemer and God to be your Sovereign Lord, how did your mindset and behavior change? What still needs to change? Have you asked for forgiveness in all areas that are needed?

Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.

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