Reasonable Service

Welcome to the Days of Praise podcast, a daily devotional by the Institute for Creation Research. Reasonable service. 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. and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans twelve, one through two.

For those who would know God's will for their lives, these verses provide the definitive answer. The key is sacrifice, not conformity. It is paradoxical but wonderfully true that real living is dying, dying to the world and living unto Christ. This great theme is emphasized repeatedly throughout the New Testament. Whether paradoxical or not, the principle of sacrificial living for Christ is eminently reasonable service.

Reasonable is the Greek logikos. from which we derive our word logical. Service is the Greek. latrea, referring to service as a priest. We have been made an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

It is perfectly logical that we render such lifelong service to the great friend who laid down his life for us in order to take away our sin and give us everlasting life with him in the ages to come. It is also logical that we should not conform our lives to the standards of this present evil world. Why should we imitate this world's materialism or humanism in dress or music or morals or anything else? We have far higher and more lasting standards guided by the Word of God and by minds renewed in Christ. Our minds once were blinded by the God of this world, but now they can be guided by the mind of the Lord.

Here is the key to knowing that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. If you've enjoyed today's devotional, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And please rate and review so more listeners can find us. To support ICR's ministry, visit icr.org/slash donate. Your gift of any amount helps us to reach others with biblical truth and encouragement.

Thanks for listening. We hope you'll start each day with days of praise.