LIVING SACRIFICE
The 20th Sunday after Pentecost
2 KINGS 5:17 (CEV)
Naaman said, “Sir, from now on I will offer sacrifices only to the LORD."
ROMANS 12:1 (NTE)
So, my dear family, this is my appeal to you by the mercies of God: offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Worship like this brings your mind into line with God’s.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
The only legitimate way forward is to offer your life to God as a sacrifice.
PRAYER
God, you are truly worthy of all the honor we can bring. I confess that the honor I offer to you is less than complete. Please accept my whole unworthy life as a sacrifice. It's the best I can do. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
