JANUARY 1, Romans 12:1 

Carol sighed as she looked at her memory verse. “Grandma, in Old Testament times people had to sacrifice animals to God, didn’t they?” she asked. “Didn’t they have to be killed and placed on an altar?”

Grandma nodded. “Yes,” she said, “but when Jesus died for our sins, He was the perfect sacrifice. Animal sacrifices are no longer needed.”

“My memory verse says we are to present our bodies as a ‘living sacrifice’ to God,” said Carol. “That is so confusing. How can I be a living sacrifice when a sacrifice is something that is killed?”

“To be a living sacrifice means to give your all – your whole life – to God so He can use it,” replied Grandma. She picked up a small piece of yarn. “Pretend that this yarn is my life,” she continued. “It is my love, my family, my time, my actions – my everything. Here, honey. I give it to you.” Grandma handed one end of the yarn to Carol while she held the other end. “There – it is all yours now, right? I am sacrificing it to you.”

Carol giggled. “Well, if it is all mine, why are you still holding on to it?” she asked.

“Good point,” approved Grandma. “You see, sometimes Christians say they give everything into God’s control – that they have made their lives a living sacrifice to serve Him. But they leave a ‘string’ attached to an area of their lives – like music. Maybe they persist in listening to music with bad lyrics. Or perhaps they leave a ‘string’ attached to their friends. Maybe they continue to hang around with kids who have a bad influence on them. It is possible to hold something back in any number of areas. And then...” Grandma slid the string almost out of Carol’s grasp, “they may even try to pull their lives back out of God’s hands. That is not a sacrifice. When an Israelite took a sacrifice to the priest, he left it there.”

“So, to be a ‘living sacrifice’, I need to give my whole life to God and leave it there without any strings to pull it back. Right?” said Carol. “Exactly,” agreed Grandma. “Once a sacrifice is truly given, there is no taking it back.”

Thought: Have you given God control of every part of your life?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to commit my life to You. As I start the new year, may I start it right and submit every area of my life to You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.