“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Romans 12:15-16
John Newton wrote, “I once was lost/ But now am found,” and he expanded on that:
“When we are justified by faith and accepted in [Christ], we become heirs of everlasting life. But we cannot know the full value of our privileges until we enter the state of glory. For this, most who are converted have to wait some time. … Though the Lord loves them, hates sin, and teaches them to hate it, He appoints them to remain a while in a sinful world, and to groan under the burden of a depraved nature.
“He has a service for them here, … namely, to be instruments of promoting His designs and manifesting His grace in the world. … As a bountiful Master and a kind Father, He is pleased to afford a variety of temporal blessings, which sweeten our service … but are by no means worth living for, … as they can neither satisfy our desires, preserve us from trouble, or support us under it. That light of God’s countenance, which can dissipate the gloom of a dungeon, is unspeakably preferable to all that can be enjoyed in a palace without it.”
“When we are justified by faith and accepted in [Christ], we become heirs of everlasting life. But we cannot know the full value of our privileges until we enter the state of glory. For this, most who are converted have to wait some time. … Though the Lord loves them, hates sin, and teaches them to hate it, He appoints them to remain a while in a sinful world, and to groan under the burden of a depraved nature.
“He has a service for them here, … namely, to be instruments of promoting His designs and manifesting His grace in the world. … As a bountiful Master and a kind Father, He is pleased to afford a variety of temporal blessings, which sweeten our service … but are by no means worth living for, … as they can neither satisfy our desires, preserve us from trouble, or support us under it. That light of God’s countenance, which can dissipate the gloom of a dungeon, is unspeakably preferable to all that can be enjoyed in a palace without it.”
Scripture Focus
Colossians 1:9-14
Insight
“Thine image, Lord, bestow,/ Thy presence and Thy love./ I ask to serve Thee here below,/ And reign with Thee above.” (John Newton, 1779)
Bible In A Year
- Ecclesiastes 7-8
- Psalm 66
- John 6
