Let’s be Reasonable!

by Rebekah Beals

No one wants to be called unreasonable.

When was the last time that someone told you that you were being unfair? When was the last time you were in a bad mood? And (I love this one) how long has it been since someone said you were being—let’s whisper this word—difficult?

You know, I’m never really difficult. Everyone else is. If they could only see things my way, how different the world would be!

We all have bad days. I mean, let’s face it. There are always those days with too many things to be done, too much noise all around you, and too little time to sort things out. Then there are the days that just irritate us for no reason at all.

For me, it’s when I wake up with a headache. I get up late, I can’t find any socks, I smear my mascara across my nose, and the iron leaks when I need to use it. Then I miss breakfast and jump right into Calculus Canyon. When I can’t stand anything any longer, I go talk to someone—anyone—and then, it happens! The unthinkable phenomenon takes place: I become unreasonable.

What does unreasonable mean, anyways? If you’re like me, you would immediately think of unfair. That is, in fact, exactly what it is. Unfair, and it often carries the idea of stubbornness, as well.

Did you know that you can be unreasonable to God?

You can. The Bible has a specific verse that tells us that we can be unreasonable.

I’m sure you already know which passage I’m referring to. It’s Romans 12, verse 1.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Paul starts right off by mentioning God’s mercies. God has given us innumerable blessings and mercies. He saved us from destruction, he adopted us to be his children, and he promised us a home in heaven. God didn’t have to give us anything on this earth, either; he could have left us to fend for ourselves and struggle through life without him. But he chose to let us have a relationship with him while we were still here on earth. Paul never lost sight of his Master, and he didn’t want the Romans to, either. So, in other words, Paul is saying, “Before I say what I’m about to say, remember everything that God has done for you!” I’m sure many Roman believers smiled as they thought about how God had recently provided for them, helped them lead a family member to him, or even saved them from their own sins.

And then we come to the next line, the part we all know and love: “…present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God…”

My first reaction is, “Ouch. I can’t do that—I won’t be able to do such and such, because I’ll have to give it up. And if I can’t do such and such, I won’t be happy.”

Let me begin by showing you what a living sacrifice is not. Presenting your body as a living sacrifice is not looking the part. In other words, it’s not just doing all the right things. I must always do the right things, but if I narrow it down to just the bare actions, it is ritual. That’s not living—that’s mechanical. It’s not just avoiding all the wrong things, either, although I do need to avoid the wrong things.

What is it, then? Here it is: In order to present my body a living sacrifice to God, I need to devote myself (and anything I can possibly offer) completely to God, for the sole purpose of glorifying him.

To become a living sacrifice, you must give your life to God. You must completely and fully give him the control over ever area of your life—and that everything includes, well, everything. Your time, your possessions, your emotions, your talents—everything.

As living sacrifices, we differ from the sacrificed beasts of the Old Testament. We are more alive than ever after we have presented ourselves to God as a sacrifice to him. Matthew Henry said that a body sincerely devoted to God is a living sacrifice. It is Christ living in the soul by faith that makes the body a living sacrifice.

This brings us to the next part of the verse—holy, and acceptable unto God.

Holiness is set apart. If I am a Christian, I am holy in God’s eyes. But I can still make decisions, and choose to be unholy. Any act that does not reflect God must reflect the world. So, if I do not choose God’s way, I am not keeping myself set apart from the world. To mix in or mingle with the world is sin.

When we weren’t saved, we did whatever we liked with our bodies. We only thought about ourselves, and what we could get to make us feel good. We were focused on ourselves. Now that we are saved, we can still use our bodies. But now, we have a new banner—Christ. We can look from our own selfish desires, which we have a constant danger of slipping back into, and rivet our attention on Christ. Then, we can use our bodies to do things for him, instead of ourselves.

There’s something else said about being a living sacrifice—it’s acceptable unto God. If we give God the full control over our lives, we are giving him a gift that he is pleased with. The word acceptable tells us that. After all that God has done for us, we ought to be ready to give anything we can to give him pleasure.

There is always some part of us that wishes to hold back. We are reluctant to hand over everything. There is something that we always want to keep. I believe that if we understood a fraction of what God has done for us, we wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to become his bond-slaves, which is, essentially, what we are supposed to be. It is our flesh that clouds our minds and shields us from seeing the full power of God. The more we learn to completely rely on God, the more we will be willing to hand over our lives to him. Just because we don’t understand everything about God doesn’t mean that he can’t be trusted. Think again about what he’s done for you. Paul had to remind the Romans about God’s blessings at the beginning of the verse, because it’s so easy to forget him when the world constantly lunges at us with its bright colors and instant satisfaction.

Here is where Paul lets us know one more thing—this is our spiritual worship, or our reasonable service. Everything I can do for God on this earth is reasonable. In other words, if I haven’t given God my life, I’m being unreasonable! I’m wallowing through life on my own for no reason other than my own satisfaction, when God’s already rescued me from all danger and told me that I’m his child forever. He has given me everything I need, he has protected me, and still, I’d rather be choosing my own way. Giving less than full surrender to Christ is treating him unfairly.

Paul says that we are to present our bodies, which means that we are to make a once-and-for-all decision to let God lead our life. The word present in this verse is equivalent to a wedding vow—once it is made, it is kept, through thick and thin. God has never left us. He has never even thought about leaving us, no matter how unreasonable we’ve been to him. He has never looked at us with anything other than pure love. How often we must disappoint him, just because we are being unreasonable.

The Bible says there’s only one way to be reasonable—fully and wholly giving the control of our lives to God, for his glory.

Have I given God the complete control of my life? Or are there things I’d rather hold back?

Does God look at me as acceptable or unreasonable?