I came across Romans 12:1 last night:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
I thought this was an interesting request by Paul in comparison to the types of sacrifice performed prior to Jesus.
Certainly, the concept is not new to me. After all, consider Omni 1:26:
And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.
and 3 Ne 9:20:
And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.
But Paul’s wording of “a living sacrifice†struck me. I had always interpreted Amaleki’s wording to mean we should offer all we do as a sacrifice to God. On the other hand, Paul’s wording seems to say to us that this sacrifice is a lifelong sacrifice, one that is always on the altar.
