Living Sacrifice

My discipleship partner, Amy, said the other day, "Read yesterday's My Daily Bread." No big surprise that when I picked it up, it spoke perfectly to the situation I was dealing with. I love it when God does that.

Romans 12:1 "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

That's always sounded super-dramatic to me. A living sacrifice, WOW. Like Abraham putting Isaac on the alter, ready to be obedient, even if it meant killing his own son! A human sacrifice. Me, on the alter, willing to die for Christ.

But, oh, must it be so dramatic?? What if God is asking me to be obedient to sacrifice myself in small ways? My comfort, my time?

Just before I read the passage in The Daily Bread, my husband and I were talking about our home group. It has gotten to be more of a burden than a joy. Neither of us, aside from seeing our friends, look much forward to it. We feel like it would run a lot more smoothly, however, without the distraction of children being under-foot. It's hard to follow the conversation, let alone contribute meaningfully, when I'm constantly getting up to police our son or see what he's gotten into or stop him from pulling the dog's tail, etc. etc. I bet the other moms feel the same way. Possibly more about my kid than theirs, but I digress.

What to do, what to do?? I asked my husband to remind me of the point of home groups...??? ...and why we need to be doing them...?? He convinced me. *Insert smug smirk here* He's not an elder for nothin'.

"What if you watch the kids, Babe?" he asks me.

Oooooh, great idea. Cuz I just can't get enough of it, raising our son and helping my friend with her toddler daughter during the week. Yeah, I don't want to show up and be able to contribute and learn and talk without distraction, I want to keep the kids quiet and corralled in the kitchen for an hour. That sounds like a blast.

I finally told my husband, "Oh, FINE. I'm so tired of missing most of it to police our kid, besides being totally distracted by the other kids the whole time--I'll watch them! I'll do anything to avoid struggling through another group!"

Attitude check.

I read "The Daily Bread." A living sacrifice, eh?

Maybe God wants this itty-bitty little sacrifice from me. One hour a week. To spend with beautiful, sweet, lovable children. Hmm. That's not so bad. Considering all that Christ has done for me and all. Certainly, watching kids once/week is a perfectly reasonable service.

It's not very dramatic, but I felt like God was asking me to do it. Maybe the big ones are easier, in a way. This little one seems almost too little. They are much easier to brush off. Yet God wants me to be obedient. And I want to be holy and acceptable to God.

So, yes, home groups are important. I want my church friends to get as much out of it as they can. So I will be watching the kids.

My reasonable service.

Being obedient in the seemingly small things is probably a pretty big deal to God. The bottom line is, if He's asking me, the answer better be YES! I hope that, with this small thing, God will eventually entrust me with more.