Most people, even Christians, do not realize how important their bodies are in God’s scheme of things.  Listen to Paul as he begins the twelfth chapter of Romans.

Romans 12:1 (ESV)
¹  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

There is much to discuss in this rich verse before us.  I could easily write 2 or 3 blogs, or even more, on this one verse.  Notice, however, the importance that Paul places upon our bodies.  He does not simply say that we should give ourselves to God, which would, of course, be naturally included in the exhortation, but he specifies the giving of our bodies.  It is with our bodies that we serve God, that is, it is the instrument used in the carrying out of His will.

Romans 6:12-13 (ESV)
¹²  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

If we use our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, we are slaves to sin and spiritually dead (Romans 6:16), and we are wasting one of the great creations of God.  Very few things in this world are more impressive than the human body.  God wants us to glorify Him with them.  After all, He has future plans for our bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:13-14 (ESV)
¹³  “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴  And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

Paul refers to one of the foundational teachings of the gospel here, that is, the bodily resurrection that we will all experience.  God is not going to create a different body for us with which to spend eternity in heaven; He is going to change our present bodies to be fit for heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (ESV)
⁴²  So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

In Philippians 3:21, Paul tells us that God is going to transform the bodies that we now have to be like our Lord’s glorious body.  Can you see how important our bodies are?  It is no wonder that Paul said that we should give them to God as a living sacrifice.

A living sacrifice is in contrast to the dead animal sacrifices of the Old Testament.  An animal could only be sacrificed once in a ceremony that lasted but a brief period.  The sacrifice that we must offer, as those who have been made alive from the dead by the grace of God, is an ongoing one.

As long as we live, our bodies should be presented to God as living sacrifices.  Make sure that every day you are living a life that is holy and acceptable to God, using your body only as an instrument of righteousness.  This is our reasonable service.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things