Running for Glory

Date: Monday, September 28, 2026

Readings: Romans 12 | Psalm 74:12-23

After eleven chapters of dense theology, Paul pivots with “therefore…” In light of everything just said about God’s mercy, "present your bodies as a living sacrifice." It’s a striking image: the whole Old Testament sacrificial system involved dead animals on an altar, pointing forward to the one sufficient sacrifice of Christ. Now that His death has ended the need for more bloodshed, our response is a living one: Our ordinary Mondays, our talents, our whole selves, offered up as worship. Don’t conform to the world’s mold, Paul says; let your mind be renewed instead.

Eric Liddell lived this out on a world stage. Favored to win the 100 meters at the 1924 Paris Olympics, he withdrew when he learned the heats fell on a Sunday, unwilling to compromise his conviction about the Lord’s Day, even under national pressure. He ran the 400 instead and won gold anyway. But the more remarkable “living sacrifice” came later, when he gave up athletic celebrity to become a missionary teacher in China, eventually dying in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, having spent his final years quietly serving fellow prisoners. His whole life, not just his race, was the offering.

You don’t need an Olympic medal to offer God something real. Renewed minds show up in ordinary decisions, made faithfully, day after day.

Devotional Prompts:

• What would it look like for you to offer your everyday routine as a “living sacrifice” this week?
• Where is the world pressuring you to conform rather than be transformed?

Prayer: Gracious God, take my ordinary days and make them an offering of worship. Renew my mind where I’ve conformed to lesser patterns, cultural patterns, temporary ideologies, and use my gifts for the good and inspiration of others. Amen.