03 22 07 Every Act Counts
"Therefore I exhort you brothers, and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice---alive, holy and pleasing to God---which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1)
I was reminded this morning in reading some devotionals I receive, as well as in e-mail from a friend last evening, of one of my favorite (life) verses in God’s word. Paul exhorts, or beseeches (Gr. parakaleo, call near, desire) each of us to present our very being as a living sacrifice to the Lord. We are not to be dead weight, just sitting around waiting for Jesus to come back and rescue us. We are to be active, alive, vibrant, and working for His purposes, not our own.
Paul says this is our reasonable service, or our logical and rational service (Gr. logikos). It’s the least we can do to give our life for Christ, since He gave His for us. So very simply, everything we do counts for or against Christ. There is no excuse! We live for Him or we don’t! Every act counts.
So by way of self-examination we simply have to ask this question: "Is what I am doing, or planning to do, honoring Christ?" If not, don’t do it! This is our reasonable behavior, our reasonable sacrifice, the least we can do to worship our God throughout the day. It makes sense. It’s logical. Let’s come alongside one another and encourage each other to do the little things for Christ and let big things happen under God’s planning.
Every act counts!