Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
I find this quite an intriguing verse. What does God mean by my offering my body as a living sacrifice?
At present I am "morbidly obese". Now to look at me, I have to admit I am overweight. But sadly our culture has so many oveweight people that we no longer recognise those who's lives may be in some health danger.
Two weeks ago, Ian and I joined Weightwatchers. My target at the moment is to weigh less than he does! But it's a tough struggle when he loses twice as much as me each week!
I looked at this verse and wondered about how to present my body as a living sacrifice. Now I may be wrong here, but my thoughts came up with 3 areas.
First My body must be healthy. To be healthy I need to be eating correctly and exercising. I really can't believe I added the second part! I need to make sure I am not being tempted to eat junk food, chocolate, fatty foods etc but instead I should eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, fibre etc. (The exercise bit I'll think about later!)
Secondly Greed! it's all very well eating healthy food, but even too much of it will cause obesity! The idea is to stop when you begin to feel full and not continue until the plate is cleared or you are stuffed! This is a tough one if you've been brought up to always clear your plate "think of the starving children in India". The solution is to cook less and put less on your plate. I've started putting bigger helpings on Ian's plate and half as much on mine! Sadly he still lost more than me this week!
Third Appropriate appearance! Away from the food aspect is appearance. People make their assumptions about us from how we initially appear. it's important to always look our best whilst taking into consideration the place we are and the purpose for our being there. A ball gown is not appropriate for a camping holiday and shorts and t-shirts are not appropriate for office work. I've always tried to think that the best way to dress is fashionable but not trendy. Our clothes need to be clean, well cared for and sensible. Inappropriate dress can hinder how others view us and therefore affect the the way others view Jesus.
Before presenting herself to the King, Queen Esther spent 3 days fasting and praying before she entered the throne room. She spent time preparing herself with perfumes and ensuring she looked her very best.
Each day, we seek an audience with the King of kings. Shouldn't we take just as much care of how we look?
I'm still stuck on how this "taking care of my body" is an act of spiritual worship, but I know that today, whenever I was tempted by the vending machine at work, the act of giving my body as a living sacrifice kept me away.
The weight loss will be a long slow process, but hopefully with God's help this time I will succeed!
