Tuesday, January 05, 2010
farewell 2009, welcome 2010
This was long overdue, but yea i shall write my new year's resolution for this year
Romans 12:1-2
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. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
To be a living sacrifice means that i have to devote my life fully to God, which means obeying all his commands and keeping all His decrees. Not an easy resolution for this year, haha... Lots of challenge as there are many things that will attempt to set my sights away from God, but keep praying that i will stay firm to this resolution. So that when i look back in 2011, i can see my growth and thank God for it.
Compare this to when Isaac was being offered as a living sacrifice, literally, by his father Abraham. He was oblivious at first. He said the wood and fire was ready, but where is the sacrificial lamb? Abraham said God will provide, but later he bound Isaac to be sacrificed, as instructed by God. And then God, convinced by his faith, sent an angel to stop him. The story here showed that Abraham feared the Lord enough to sacrifice his only son Isaac as God had instructed.
But what about Isaac's side of the story? he could have easily broken off, struggled, screamed or outrun his hundred years old father. But the bible did not show any signs of struggle. He was willing to be sacrificed as an offering to the end. We should be like Isaac, ready to obey God to the end.
Now, there is no longer any need for any sacrifice, as Jesus was the last Sacrifice that has paid our penalties, once and for all on the cross. Now what it means to be a living sacrifice is to forsake our old self and live our lives for God.
And the next part of the resolution, is to not conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind. This world does not offer salvation. Instead, it gives us empty sense of security and tries to keep us away from God. Therefore, we should not set our sights on this world. Instead, we should renew our minds and set our sights on God. We should be ready to offer ourselves as living sacrifices.
These 2 verses are really deep haha... and i am barely scratching the surface. If i were to continue, i can go on and on and on. But i am not good at writing these kind of deep stuffs haha, so i shall stop here. Hope i can listen to sermons on these 2 verses sometime in the future.
Left his memories on 11:49 PM|
~ It's just a goodnight and not goodbye ~
