And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (II Corinthians 5:15 NIV).
One night after an Amy Grant concert, Donn had gone to take our sitter home. The Holy Spirit’s tugging on my heart was so strong that all I could do was walk around the house, weeping and crying, “What do you want of me, God? What do you want?”
I felt led to pick up my Mom’s copy of “Springs in the Valley” and opened to a devotional based on Romans 12:1 titled, “That you present your bodies” by J. Gregory Mantle. I recognized Romans 12:1 as the verse God had spoken to me about before.
This devotional was written as though Jesus were speaking, asking me to lend Him my body. Jesus was saying that for a few brief years, He had delighted to do His Father’s will in the body that was prepared for Him; but since millions of hearts are still longing for Him, He needs a body still. “Wilt thou lend me thy body?”
I cried until all my emotion was spent. I knew God was serious about His request that I make of my body a living sacrifice. After many long, sometimes tearful talks with Donn, our pastor anointed our whole family in August of 1980, symbolic of our commitment to be available to do whatever He asked.
Oh Father, remove our selfish hopes and dreams and replace them with a passion to lend our bodies to the One who gave His life for us. Amen.
