The OUCH factor in Romans 12:1-2

Romans12 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

I have heard it said before that the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar. True, but there is something else that gets me about these verses. Being a living sacrifice, being holy is our reasonable sacrifice. This is not something in there just for the super-devoted. It is not just for the missionaries and pastors. Being a living sacrifice is not just for those who feel the call to go above and beyond the "normal Christian walk" It is what is reasonable for All people who are Christians. Considering the fact that we are flawed and sinful creatures, that seems like such a lofty goal. How are we supposed to be holy and acceptable to GOD? He is holy, perfect, sinless, righteous.....the list could on and on. We are....well, we are not like God. We get tired so we get cranky. We have a bad day so we speak unkind words to people. But that is not making us holy. How do we do that? Do we join certain church that have "holy" somewhere in their title and have strict rules about things, even dress codes for outside of church? No. There may be people in that church who are trying to pursue holiness, but belonging to this church or that one does not in and of itself make someone holy.
Verse two lights the way for us-And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We are not supposed to follow the world for our way of life. We are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. But then, how does that happen? Do we become Christians one day then our minds are suddenly transformed? NO! We have to pray, we have to study our Bibles. Then as God reveals to us those things in our lives which are unacceptable to His will, we have to weed those things out. We have to learn to look at things through the filter of the Holy Spirit. Before we go places or do things we have to ask if Jesus would do the same in our position. Would God want to listen to the CD with us, or read the book with us, or play the video game with our kids? Would God watch that movie with us? We, as Christians, need to be careful with what we are filling our minds. If we are filling it good, holy things, there will be no room left for those things that God hates.