Romans 12:1–2 NASB95PARA 1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 9:16 NASB95PARA 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

GRATITUDE for God’s mercy is our MOTIVATION for holy living.

Considering the mercy of God and Jesus’ sacrifice for us, isn’t offering our bodies back to God both RATIONAL and REAONABLE?

Worship that pleases God is both SPIRITUAL and PHYSICAL.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NASB95PARA 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Galatians 1:4 NASB95PARA 4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

Our minds need to be renewed in order to DISCERN in a given situation which actions are pleasing to God and those that aren’t.  

2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB95PARA 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Putting it all together:

To best express our gratitude to God for His mercy that was so clearly displayed on the cross, we need to DAILY offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, which is made possible by INVESTING time in God’s presence (i.e. in the WORD and worship) so that our minds can be renewed, leading to our behavior being transformed, and our bodies made a holy and acceptable sacrifice to God that day. And we do the same thing the next day. That is how we say thanks!