by Jefferson David Tant<\/p>\n
“I beseech you … brethren … to present your bodies a living sacrifice … And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind<\/em>” (Romans 12:1-2). We all know the words. Do we really know what they mean?<\/p>\n We know the words, but do we sing them from the heart, or just from the lips?<\/p>\n We must all agree that many of God’s people are sorely lacking in real spiritual life. There is no zeal. There is no fire. The salt has lost its savor. The light has grown dim. Perhaps we need to confront ourselves soberly with a tough question: “Do I put Christ first in my life by complete surrender and commitment to Him?” Right now, jot down the things in life that are most important to you. Be perfectly honest – don’t fudge. Be sure to include job, family, personal comfort, social relationships, possessions, Christ, etc.<\/p>\n If Christ is not honestly at the head of the list, ask, “Would I be willing to put Christ first – ahead of my social life?” Sometimes when we might have the opportunity to serve Christ, whether it be attending mid-week Bible study, or visiting the sick, etc., we are excused because “This is my night to bowl,” or “Our company stayed too late…”<\/p>\n Did you take a job knowing you would be unable to participate in worship assemblies and Bible studies regularly? Be really frank with yourself. Is Christ first? Have you put absolute faith and trust in His promise of Matthew 6:33?<\/p>\n Did you miss a gospel meeting in order to see your son play in the baseball game? The excuse: “This creates a bond between me and my son, and will help me lead him in the way of Christ.” But which came first – Christ or family? Can we actually put Christ first – ahead of them? Why should God ask such an outlandish thing? Yet, we recall Jesus saying, “He that loveth father or mother …son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me<\/em>” (Matthew 10:33)<\/p>\n Sure, the problem is difficult. If you don’t believe it, try it yourself. The same test was put to Abraham when he was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham became the “father of the faithful” when he answered the question in God’s favor. The rich young ruler (Matthew 19) “went away sorrowful<\/em>” because he answered the question in what he thought was his own favor. Like the ruler, we have allowed our material prosperity and our environment to bind, gag, and deliver us to the world, the flesh, and Satan.<\/p>\n What a joy of release when we can finally say, “I surrender all.” Then will we have presented our bodies a “living sacrifice unto God.” Then will we fully realize that we are not our own, “for ye were bought with a price<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:19-20). Then the world will take knowledge of us, that we have been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). Then will the Lord be Alpha and Omega – forever<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Jefferson David Tant “I beseech you … brethren … to present your bodies a living sacrifice … And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1-2). We all know the words. Do we really know what they mean? “All to Jesus I surrender,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[73,515],"class_list":["post-35221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-jesus","tag-priorities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56422,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/give-it-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":35221,"position":0},"title":"Give It Up!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Thurman via\u00a0Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 3, Jan. 16, 2009. Toward the end of WWII, it was obvious to everyone that the Japanese empire was on its last legs. It was only a matter of time before the Japanese would be beaten. But, with a strict code of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91045,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-have-the-same-judgment\/","url_meta":{"origin":35221,"position":1},"title":"Can We Have the Same Judgment?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment\" (I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59931,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-temptation\/","url_meta":{"origin":35221,"position":2},"title":"The Temptation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Waldron via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0XXIII (Part 1: 31, pp. 504-505, August 9, 1979; Part 2: 32, pp. 520-521, August 16, 1979; Part 3: 33, p. 533, August 23, 1979) After Jesus was baptized, He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46605,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-loves-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":35221,"position":3},"title":"Jesus Loves Me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Mark 10:13-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cJesus Loves Me\u201d is a tune known the world over \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was written in 1860 by Anna Bartlett Warner as a poem for her sister\u2019s book, Say and Seal. In the story the poem is recited by Mr. Linden, one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63648,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-are-at-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":35221,"position":4},"title":"We are at War!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Few Christians realize that their country is at war \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No, I don\u2019t mean the U.S. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I mean the country every Christian in the world belongs to, the church of our Lord and God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Phil 3:20 - Our citizenship is in heaven \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eph. 2:19 - You are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49192,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-expect-us-to-do-our-part\/","url_meta":{"origin":35221,"position":5},"title":"Does God expect us to do our part?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When Simon helps carries Jesus' cross in Mark 15:21, does it have any special meaning? I remember a pastor talking about how Jesus told Christians to deny ourselves and take up our own cross (such as in Luke 9:23), but He could not carry His own cross. Simon had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“All to Jesus I surrender,
\nAll to Him I freely give;
\nI will ever love and trust Him,
\nIn His presence daily live.
\nAll to Jesus I surrender,
\nHumbly at His feet I bow;
\nWorldly pleasures all forsaken,
\nTake me Jesus, Take me now.
\nAll to Jesus I surrender,
\nLord, I give myself to Thee;
\nFill me with Thy love and power,
\nLet Thy blessing fall on me.
\nI surrender all …
\nAll to Thee, my blessed Savior,
\nI surrender all” (J. W. Van de Venter).<\/blockquote>\n