Oh my goodness, did our pastor BRING IT on Sunday!  It was very thought-provoking and got me to thinking, so these next few blogs are directly from his message(s).  Sometimes God has more than one message for you in a day…

 Ephesians 5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ² and walk in love, just as Christ also loved ^[a]you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God ^[b]as a fragrant aroma.

WOW!  Jesus gave His life up for ours and the sacrifice was accepted.  It was a fragrant aroma, pleasing to God.  Like in the old testament where God was pleased with some sacrifices and not with others. Cain and Able come to mind.  He loved the smell of the sacrifice – of His Son’s life.

My husband likes to hunt.  Deer jerky isn’t all that bad, girls.  But have you ever smelled the smell hunters have to put on themselves to cover the human smell?  It’s totally disgusting… deer scented perfume.  Gross, to say the least.  I can’t believe that God would appreciate a smell like that at all.  Personally, I would rather have Tabu (Lucy calls it my mommy smell) or Vera Wang Princess.  Much better, I tell you!  And I’m sure God would love that much more as well.

And while we are no longer under the law where we have to bring a sacrifice to be close to God, Jesus accomplished ALL of our sacrifices for eternity for us on the cross! But check this out…

Romans 12 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, ^[a]acceptable to God, which is your ^[b]spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this ^[c]world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may ^[d]prove what the will of God is, that which is good and ^[e]acceptable and perfect.

So there it is… we are to be being (continuous form of the sentence) a sacrifice with our lives.  My pastor stated the fact that our church attendance is a sweet smell to God.  He then went on to ask the question, “What does the rest of your life smell like?”  Is it stinky?  Or is it continually being renewed by the reading of His Word and the prayer time you have with Jesus? I immediately pictured the garbage can at our house… and I actually smelled the smell.  I sure don’t want my life being like that to God.  I want to be that perfume that was poured over Jesus.

So it begs to ask the questions, Am I making time in my day, every day, for God?  Am I being renewed just like His mercies, each and every day? Am I showing love to my family and friends?  And for me the question is, “Am I showing God’s love to other drivers when they drive way too slow?”  Am I praying for the family member who doesn’t like me?  Am I praying for that girl at work who keeps trying to get me fired? Am I reaching out to that neighbor whose husband just left her for the other woman? “Pray for your enemies and those that despise you…”

That right there, my sisters, is a living sacrifice.  Doing the things we can’t do by ourselves, being transformed by God’s Word, allowing God to get into those hard to get places… I’m not all the way there, and I’m sure God’s working on you, too.  That’s the good news!  God helps us transform into this living sacrifice.  We don’t get there by ourselves, it’s a process.  Maybe today I remember to pray for that girl, maybe today I bring a meal, maybe today I get up early to have some time alone with God… one step at a time.