"Be a Living Sacrifice"

"God is the LORD, which hath shown us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." (Psalms 118:27)

 Whether or not you have seen the light, is not really something that can be hidden in our hearts; when we are in the light, we become light, it cannot be hidden. I know that I have shared this before, but within a month or so after I was saved, I had an experience with what I believe was a demon possessed inmate. As I waited in the hallway for an early release hearing, two large officers were bringing a bound man down the hallway towards me, and he was bound with chains around his hands and feet. As they started to reach the area where I was seated, I gazed down at the ground, to try to not get his attention; and all of the sudden the chains quit rattling and I realized that they had stopped right in front of me. As I looked up from the ground, the bound man was staring down at me, and when our eyes made contact, he spoke to me saying, "I know Jesus too," and then off he went, continuing down the hallway. I know it was something that can only be explained as light, and if there is one thing the darkness cannot stand, it is light. Matthew Henry gives a little illustration about the sacrifice being bound to the horns of the altar, as if it were bound there with a rope tied around the neck and waiting to be slain. It might not be the way things were done, or maybe it was; but regardless, the picture that is put forth is one of preparation. The sacrifice was bound in preparation to be sacrificed as an offering. Maybe you don't quite see it the way I do, but the altar represents the salvation that we have been given. In this regard, we are the sacrifice that is bound in preparation; we are bound to this salvation as a living sacrifice, and there is no escaping it. Because of what God has done for us, we must be that living sacrifice, bound to the altar...

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2) NLT