Renewing Your Mind
Reasonable Service
Romans 12:1
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
to God, which is your spiritual worship.
ESV
Only spiritual things have any lasting value. Thus, our sacrifices become reasonable because of what God has done, is doing, and will do in the fulfillment of His promises. Our sacrifices must be in His Will to be of lasting value. They must be “reasonable.”
Paul describes our need to offer ourselves as living sacrifices our “reasonable service.” This phrase, or more particularly, the proper interpretation of the Greek word, logikos, has raised much speculation within the Christian community. It is a word that means spiritual or rational. This latter meaning gives us the English word “logical.” In the plural it may mean “rites” or “duties.” A review of the various translations seemingly shows a wide variance of ideas.
>spiritual service of worship (NASB; RSV)
spiritual act of worship (NIV)
an act of intelligent worship (Phillips)
worship offered by mind and heart (New English Bible)
in a way that is worthy of thinking beings (Jerusalem Bible)
true worship (TEV)
spiritual way (NCV)
most sensible way to serve God (CEV)
the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you (TLB; NLT)
Embracing what God has done for you is the best thing you can do for him (The Message)
It is important to keep these various meanings in mind, for we often get hung up attempting to discern the minute details of God’s Will for our individual life and particular circumstance, missing the true meaning of Scripture in our lives.
