This heartbeat is part of a series that was written when Covenant EFC embarked on our Seed Fund Faith Journey.
“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” – Romans 12:1b
The highest vocation of a disciple of Christ is to glorify God. Our life ambition must be to do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). This should be the source of our great satisfaction and contentment. Our character and lifestyle choices have to embody this celestial quality of a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
Theologian and author J. I. Packer observes however that a certain hedonism and ego-centricity has permeated the life of the disciple. This expresses itself in the unwillingness to see oneself as existing for the Creator’s pleasure, and instead establishes oneself as the centre of everything. Self-expression, self-realization and ultimately self-gratification become life’s supreme goals. The Bible calls this the love of the world and warns that this love can crowd out the love of the Father from our hearts (1 Jn 2:15). This would not be surprising, because the love of the world is intensely acquisitive, self-absorbing and leaves little room for any other kind of affection. Those who love the world serve and worship themselves every moment; it is their full-time job!
As we begin the year 2019, every Covenanter who professes to be a disciple of Christ must examine his/her heart and the life-decisions he/she will make in this new year. Do our posture and choices seek to glorify God our Father, and are holy and acceptable to Him? Or do they betray an inordinate love-of-the-world and primarily serve our own wants and desires? Importantly, in the area of our finances, do we demonstrate the quality of being a living sacrifice? Are we able to willingly surrender some of our needs and wants, in order that the sacred mission of God through our church may be accomplished?
Each Covenanter must exercise faithful and obedient stewardship of the financial resources God has placed in our hands. We have a vision to raise a Seed Fund of $40M towards Vision 2028 & Beyond to grow the IDMC movement in Singapore. Let’s be faithful to bring the best of our firstfruits to the altar by February 2019. This is the practical outworking of our spiritual worship!
