OFFERING OUR BODIES IN WORSHIP (PART 2)

"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instrument of wickedness,

but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life;

and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness."

(Romans 6:13)

Do not make the mistake of thinking that God is only concerned with our spirits. It's true that Jesus said we are to "worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). But there's a context. We worship the God who indwells mortal flesh. We are His temple. And those who carelessly degrade His temple, either through immorality or irreverence, are being careless about their worship. Praising God with physical mouths and then treating our bodies with little concern for our health or morality is gross contradiction - Chris Tiegreen (Worship The King)


Here is a list of Scriptures (certainly not exhaustive, but enough to get us started) that will help us understand God's perspective on how we can offer our body to Him on a daily basis as a SPIRITUAL ACT OF WORSHIP. We will look at what the Bible says about our ears, our eyes, our mouth, and their relationship to our thoughts.


Our Ears
How can we offer our ears as a living sacrifice to God? Consider these words of instruction from Scripture:
- The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out. (Proverbs 18:15)
- Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
- Apply our heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. (Proverbs 23:12)
-Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food? (Job 12:11)
What do we allow ourselves to listen to? What kind of environment in which faith can be nutured? It is conducive to worship? We spit out foods that offend our sense of taste. What do we do with words that offend our hearing?

Our Eyes
How can we offer our eyes to God as a living sacrifice? Here is what the Bible says:
- We have made a covenant with our eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. (Job 31:1)
- Turn our eyes away from worthless things. (Psalm 119:37)
- We will set before our eyes no vile thing. (Psalm 101:3)
Vile means wicked, peverted, offensive to the senses, disgusting, cheap, degrading. What are we doing with our eyes? What do we allow ourselves to look at?

Our Mouth
How can we offer our mouth as a living sacrifice? Again, let's see what the Bible has to say.
- Keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking lies. (Psalm 34:3)
- We said,"I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence." (Psalm 39:1)
-What goes into a man's mouth does not make him "unclean," but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him "unclean." (Matthew 15:11)
- Rid ourselves of ... slander and filthy language from our lips. (Colossians 3:8)
- "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips." (Proverbs 4:23-24)
Jesus taught us that our lips reveal the content of our hearts. "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). What do our lips reveal about the content of our heart? What are we filling our hearts with that overflows from our lips?
David prayed: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight." (Psalm 19:14) - May this be our prayers too.


Our Thoughts
We know that our thoughts are not physical parts of our body. But they are inseparable from our body. Our thoughts both reflect and direct what we do with our eyes, our ears, and our mouth.
- In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. (Psalm 10:2)
- "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, what ever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)
- Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2)
- Take captive every thoughts to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
One best ways to take every thought captive to Christ is to develop the habit of turning self-talk into God-talk. You know what self-talk is - it is the silent and secret conversations you have with yourself.
Some methods of turning self-talk into God-talk:
- Praying without ceasing
- Listening and singing praises to God
- Reading and meditating on the Word of God

Living sacrifices that offer to God as an act of worship ... "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:1-2)

(an extract from - The Way of a Worshipper by Buddy Owens)