Prayer Call: A Living DM

Good Morning BFB & Friends!

As we continue our Check Your DMs series, God draws our attention to a simple but powerful truth found in Romans 12:1. Before we rush into the rhythm of a new week, Paul invites us to pause, refocus, and look at our lives through one lens — the mercy God has already sent us. This devotional reflects on that message and our response to it: becoming a living DM for Christ.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.” - Romans 12:1 (NIV)
 
This idea of a living DM connects directly to where God has had us in this series, Check Your DMs. We’ve been looking at the messages sent to us through the epistles — these letters that speak directly into our lives. And today, we land in the book of Romans, perhaps the greatest letter Paul wrote to the churches in Rome.

As I kept reading Romans 12:1, God wouldn’t let me move past it. I believe this verse gives us one of the clearest examples of what a direct message truly is.

The Message Sent: God’s Mercy
In every direct message or text message, there’s a message sent, and then there’s a reply. Paul begins with the message God has already sent: God’s mercy. As we begin this day — after the stretch, after the routine, after everything else — we often jump straight into our schedules, our shows, our habits. But Paul slows us down. He says, before anything else, look at life through one lens: “In view of God’s mercy.”

When God’s mercy stays in view, something shifts. God’s mercy becomes the lens through which we see everything. God’s mercy covers everything else. And mercy is not us going toward Him — mercy is Him coming toward us.

I remember a preaching mentor explaining mercy this way. He’s an avid sports fan, and one of his vices is SportsCenter. He watches it every morning, not to catch every game — he doesn’t have time for that — but because SportsCenter shows the highlights. He doesn’t see the fumbles, the missed shots, the turnovers. He sees the good things. He said, “That’s how I explain mercy. Mercy doesn’t show my mess‑ups. Mercy doesn’t show when I fumble or turn over the ball. Mercy shows my highlights. When God sees me, He sees my highlights. He covers the mess ups.”

And Paul uses the word mercies — plural — because God’s mercy shows up over and over and over again. Every day we wake up, we wake up wrapped in God’s mercy. And we should be thankful.

The Reply: A Living Sacrifice
If God’s mercy is the message sent, then our lives — as a sacrifice — are the reply. Paul says, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.”

In view of God’s mercy, our response is to live sacrificially. When the Romans heard the word “sacrifice,” they would have pictured an animal laid on the altar. But Paul isn’t asking for something dead. He’s asking for something living.

God isn’t calling us to lie still like a scapegoat or a turtledove. He’s calling us to move. Living things move. When you study the tabernacle, you notice something interesting: among all the pieces of furniture — the mercy seat, the ark, the lampstands, the bread — there was no seat. The priests weren’t meant to sit. They were meant to move, to serve, to offer, to present. That’s our reply to God’s mercy.

Our bodies, our minds, our gifts — all of it should be doing something for God.

• Taking care of our bodies so we can serve.
• Studying God’s Word so we can encourage someone.
• Reaching those who don’t know Christ.
• Helping those in need — food, shelter, direction.
• Being the eyes, hands, feet, and arms of Jesus.
• Offering a hug when someone is in tears.

In view of God’s mercy, we are the sacrifice.

A Personal Message — Not a Group Chat
So as we start this week, remember: this isn’t a group chat. This isn’t a message that gets lost in the clutter of everyone else’s responses. This is a message sent directly to you.

God’s mercy has been sent.
And our reply is to live — fully, actively, intentionally — for Him.

A living DM.

Amen and amen.