Our Everything is a Gift for God

When we think of gifts, we think of material things such as money or toys. We rarely think of the gift of time or loyalty. We never think of our bodies as a gift, especially for God. The reality is that everything we have, and that includes our bodies, is a fitting gift for God.

Brethren, I appeal to you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.

Romans 12.1-3

Today’s lesson from Saint Paul is a testimony to fasting, but much more. When we fast, we literally give our bodies to God, but much more. When we fast, we learn there is nothing we have that is not something we can give to God.

When Saint Paul urges us to present our “bodies as a living sacrifice” to God we might be confused. When we hear the word sacrifice, we think pain, we think death, we think suffering. The truth is that a sacrifice is any offering to God which makes us holy.

The Greek word θυσίαν is better (in my mind) translated offering. The word sacrifice is derived from Latin which means ‘to make holy’. Unfortunately, because of Hollywood we think a sacrifice is throwing a virgin down a volcano to appease and angry God, not a gift to make us holy.

To further my point, the Old Testament uses the same Greek word to describe the offering of incense and wheat, not just animal sacrifices, to God. These all are offerings to God to make us holy.

For Saint Paul nothing is greater than offering God our very bodies through the way we live. We pray, we fast, we care for the poor, we build altars and churches to God. The more our life is oriented as an offering to God, the more holy we become. Becoming holy is our goal.

As you prepare for Sunday Liturgy tomorrow, I invite you to consider your life choices today. Are your choices an offering to God? Saint Paul believed our everything was part of our spiritual worship of God, not just the Eucharist on Sundays.