I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. —Romans 12:1-2
We find in Romans 12:1–2 what we call a conditional promise. The promise is that you can know what the perfect will of God is for your life. The conditions are that you must present yourself to God and that you must not be conformed to this world.
Notice the order. First, you offer yourself as a living sacrifice, and then you will know the will of God. We tend to want to know God's will first and then decide whether we want to give ourselves to it.
It reminds me of when my son Jonathan was little. My wife would ask him, "Jonathan, are you hungry?"
Often the response was, "What are you cooking?" If it was vegetables, then he was not hungry at that particular moment. But if it was ice cream, then he was starving.
In the same way, we will sometimes say, "Lord, what is your will? Before I am going to surrender to it, I would like to know what I am getting myself into." But God may tell you something that you don't want to hear. The question is, are you going to do what He says?
It has been said that the condition of an enlightened mind is a surrendered heart. If you want to know the will of God, then you must have a heart that is surrendered. Present yourself to Him. Then accept His will, no matter what.
Used with Permission
