Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. (Rom 6:13)
Note the emphasis, “every part of yourself.” We have a responsibility to the Lord not only to give Him some of what belongs to us. No, this is a gross [!] misunderstanding. The Lord expects us to give Him everything. This is the meaning of “every part.” The reason given in Rom 6:13 is that this should be a Christian’s new lifestyle because we have been freed from slavery to sin. We serve because we are now slaves to righteousness.
Second, perhaps you may say that this is too extreme a position. Extreme? What about the Lord giving you His life? Is this “extreme”? If the Lord did not go to the extreme of giving you His life, you are finished, destined for eternal torment in hell, lost and lost forever. So, you ask: Why must I serve the Lord? The reason is: the Lord loves me very much. I must love the Lord too. A woman once did something extreme for Jesus in Luke 7:37-38:
37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
Not only did she show extreme devotion for Jesus. She violated all social norms by touching Jesus: she was a “sinful woman,” probably a prostitute, and is thus unworthy to touch Jesus. People present were very angry. What caused her to show such extreme devotion to Jesus? Jesus explains with a parable in Luke 7:41-42:
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
The point of the parable, as Jesus explains in Luke 7:47, is “her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven loves little.” This woman loves Jesus so much is because she knows Jesus has forgiven her many sins. We must go to extremes to love Jesus because Jesus has gone to extremes to love us. Not only did He forgiven all [!] our sins. He died on the cross to make that happen. Why must we serve Jesus? Because He loves me so much. I must love Him too, even if I have to sacrifice everything. Even so, our extreme sacrifices can never repay Jesus for what He did for us: He gave us His life.
As you begin the new year, you do not begin by asking the Lord to bless you. You do not begin by resolving to fulfil the goals set for this year. No. You begin the new year by dedicating your entire life to Him that you will “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind (Luke 10:27). May the Lord bless your new year with His blessed presence.