Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. (Galatians 5:17)
Our first altar call and surrender occurred when we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and chose to follow Him as His disciples. But surrender does not end at salvation. A living sacrifice is not just something we place on an altar – it is the life we choose to live after we leave the altar.
There is a constant battle against our posture of wholehearted worship between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh wants control, retaliation, recognition, and its own way. The Spirit calls us to surrender, humility, forgiveness, obedience, and peace.
Worship is more than singing, serving, or lifting our hands. True worship is revealed in the posture of our hearts.
Sometimes the sacrifice God desires is our need to be right, our bitterness, our desire to control the outcome, or something precious we refuse to surrender.
Heart Check:
What am I still holding onto that God is asking me to place on the altar?