Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

Psalm 139:13-16. Romans 12:1

We are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Each of you who has looked at a newborn baby, maybe your own, or a grandchild, or a niece or nephew, will look in wonder and echo what the psalmist is saying.  What is our response?

The wonder of the human body should cause us to worship. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” From the 2 original cells at conception, we end up with about 30 trillion cells. And as cells die, new cells are constantly being made.

Why are our bodies so special? Because of the Incarnation. God values the human body so highly that He chose to take on the form of a human body when He wanted to save humanity. In Hebrews 10:5 Jesus is speaking. He says to God, “You prepared a body for me.” Jesus, who is God’s own Son, took on flesh and became a baby. He took the form of our human body. And that body was broken on the cross for us! How do we glorify God with our bodies?

Number 1. By taking care of our bodies. There is so much information concerning healthy lifestyle choices.                                                                                                                  Let’s also remember that we are glorifying God, and not our bodies. The body can become an idol. Instead of saying, “My body is wonderful—I worship God,” as the Psalmist in Psalm 139 is saying, people say, “My body is wonderful. I worship it!”

Number 2. We glorify God by accepting the body types we have, whether we are tall or short! The Message translation of Matthew 6:27 says, “Has anyone, by fussing in front of the mirror, ever got taller?”

Number 3: We are told in Romans 12:1 to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice.” What else can we do, in the light of what Jesus did on the Cross for you and for me, presenting His body as a sacrifice once and for all? Surrender our whole beings to God to be used for righteous purposes. Romans 6:23. Let’s look specifically at our hands, our eyes, and our tongues.

What amazing things we can do with our hands. Don’t we admire those professional musicians, and what they can do with their hands? We are blessed by the way their hands run up and down the keyboard, or work wonders on the guitar fret. And it is so sad when hands are sometimes used in the wrong way. A clenched fist, a prodding finger, a poking, accusing finger. We should be using our hands to bless others (phone calls, baking, building).

Our eyes. Job 31:1 Don’t let your eyes cause you to stumble. If there’s something on television or YouTube you know you shouldn’t be watching, change the channel! Matthew 5:29. We need to look at people as Jesus looks at them, and look for the lonely, look for the hurt. Matthew 6:22

Our tongues. God says, “I want that member of your body to yield to Me, so it is used to bless, to encourage people and to comfort people.” The doctor may ask you to put out your tongue, because if your tongue is not healthy, it can be an indication that there’s something else wrong with your body. So, God says to us, “Put out your tongue! I want to see that it is healthy, and saying good, positive things to show that you have a right heart before Me.”

Let’s yield the members of our bodies to God and use them to bring Him glory. Phil 1:20