Paul asks us to offer ourselves up as living sacrifices. Are we transformed, humble, faithful, using our gifts to serve others, loving, sharing, blessing, rejoicing and doing right all the time so that we are a blessing to our enemies, not just our friends? This is far more of an act of worship than what we do in church on Sunday. It involves a whole-hearted surrender to God and requires the humility and love than only God’s Spirit within us can supply.
Joseph’s brothers certainly hadn’t lived like that, but God was using events not only to save the family but to start transforming individuals.
In Job ch.8, Bildad is no blessing at all as he arrogantly & wrongly tells Job his children’s fate must have been punishment for wrong things they had done, and accuses Job of being in the same situation.
Reading the challenge to the Romans to be renewed and transformed [to be humble, to use our gifts and to show love in practical ways], makes us ask ourselves this question. What is God putting His finger on today in my life to change and make me more like Jesus? Let’s worship Him by embracing that change rather than resisting it.
(member of the prayer ministry team)