Worth Dying For

As a young person, I read and heard stories of martyrs.  I pondered the whole notion of dying for a cause.  I heard people say they would be willing to die for the cause of Christ.  It seemed so noble.  But at some point in my teens years, I decided that any cause worth dying for, must also be worth living for. 

Life is actually a process of dying slowly.  If a person is not willing to make daily sacrifices for the cause they claim to hold dear, I don’t want to hear any nonsense about their willingness to die for that cause.  For example, I have heard parents say that they would do anything for their children….even die for them.  If those same parents smoke around their child who has asthma, I say “bologna!”   You aren’t willing to die for your child, if you aren’t willing to make daily sacrifices of your own wishes and desires and habits for the sake of the child’s well-being.

Long ago I memorized Romans 12: 1-2   I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  That is the King James Version.

I also like Phillips’ translation:  With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him.  Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets his demands and moves toward the goal of true maturity.

God does not ask most of us to be martyrs in the traditional meaning of the word.  He does, however, expect us to die daily…be a “living sacrifice.”  This means obedience to his good plan for us, even when we don’t like it or don’t understand it.

I read an article yesterday in Christianity Today which was written by a lesbian, who still has such inclinations, but also understands that in obedience to God, she must resist the temptation to act on those inclinations.  She is living out the daily sacrifice of her desires in order to conform her mind and body to what is acceptable to God.

I know people who have left marriages and married someone new stating that “God wants us to be happy.”  Nope!  God wants you to be holy.  He wants you to sacrifice your desires and have your mind transformed.  Don’t follow the pattern of this world!  If you have to die a little every day in order to be obedient, so be it.

We all have inclinations and urges that are wrong…..anger, pride, fear, feelings of worthlessness, temptation to gossip.  We may read books, listen to music, watch television, or have friendships we know are not suitable for a mind that is being transformed for God’s purposes.  If we are a “living sacrifice,” we need to learn to die daily.

Obedience to God may mean a dramatic death, but it will more likely mean the slow process of surrender to his purposes in daily life.