Romans 12:1 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.

What do you owe the One who has saved your life, has given you life?

A Chinese proverbs says you owe your life to the one who saves your life. I suppose that is a worldly wisdom, a debt to repay. What does Jesus ask in return for saving you? Paul comments here that you should offer up your body as reasonable service. Service is very much a part of the Christian life, as described by Paul in his epistles that give structure to this church age. His focus has always been about how the church should act and meet the needs of the body of Christ. Needs are not wants.

When it comes to things Jesus asked of us, I always think of this one verse.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The only valid reason to obey is love.

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Then we get into the argument of who is your neighbor. The answer the Spirit will answer for you is “All mankind.”

Do I owe that to Him who saved me?

He did ask!

Communion – noun

The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.

That is the first definition of communion, not the sacraments of bread and wine, but an exchange between people, which is mental or with God which is spiritual. It is an exchange, you receive as well as give. This communion with God is not merely praying which is an admission of condition, but in listening in the Spirit for what God has to share with you.

This is how Jesus knew the will of His Father, by communing with Him in private, in the Spirit.

Matthew 14:23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

He advised us to do the same.

Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

The door, once again, is to your heart, where He resides privately. Many of us make it a mental exercise rather than an exercise of the heart. The mind is a repository of memories, habits, tendencies, emotions, fears and rationale. The heart is a repository of your true self which is aligned with God once it has been changed by His presence.

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;