O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!

'For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counsellor?'
'Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?'
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.


I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

-- Romans 11:33-12:2

I think I've missed the intent behind 'living sacrifice' by not connecting the verses before it. First, I suspect that I can only present myself to God by appealing to His mercy. ...it is not primarily an act of self-control (as I have so often thought), as it is a act of submission to His mercy...by acknowledging that I need His mercy. Second, the use of my body is the result of the use of my mind, particularly its renewal. My side of things is really more about how I conform to this world and His side is the transformation that can occur when I stop trying to conform.

Stopping this (conforming) is a real challenge, until I realize how much power God has over things...thus the prior OT quote. When my heart bursts with awareness of 'O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!', the desire to conform is highly mitigated.