Read Romans 12:1-2

Serving as a Grace Group leader for Grace Students has been one of the most rewarding, and challenging experiences of my life. My co-leader and I have been with the same group of guys for a few years now, and as we have had the blessing of watching these boys turn into young men, so too have we been stretched to deepen our own understanding of the Bible as the questions from our group have grown in complexity. In particular, a young man in our group recently asked me the following “Taylor I want to give to God and the work of His church, but how do I do that if I don’t have an income?” My mind immediately went to the verses we are studying today.

I love thinking about the concept that everything belongs to God. All of the values of our church have a special place in my heart, and in some way are a part of my story, but this one in particular stands out to me. We live in God’s world, everything that has existed, that exists here in the present, and will exist in the future is His. That includes you and I. Our bodies, our spirit, every strand of DNA in us is God’s. This truly is His world, and we have the wonderful blessing of getting to play some small part in it during this period of history.

The words Paul shares with Romans in this passage, and with us today is foundational to understanding sacrifice and its importance in our walk of faith. The Lord has blessed us with our life, our bodies, our minds and our spirits. The very least we can do is to offer ourselves as vessels to share His love, preach His Gospel, and serve His Kingdom on His earth. Whether you have an income or not, if you are reading this devotional today you have life- so what are you doing with it?

I encourage all of us today (myself included) to reflect on our lives and ask the Lord to continue to show us new ways we can sacrifice for the Kingdom. He has called us for such a time as this, and if “you’re not dead, God’s not done.” I believe strongly that Jesus has a plan for all of us and am praying today that He will continue to lead us towards loving others and spreading His gospel.

It ALL belongs to God.

Taylor Bennington

Questions to consider:

• As you reflect on your life, what are some ways you can sacrifice for the Kingdom?
• Even outside of tithing, what are some ways you can live out “it all belongs to God”?