A month ago, I hopped on the Verse Mapping wagon. The system, known by many names, is the worksheet that dissects Bible verses and allows you to apply the message and meditate on your research. From there, I decided to memorize the verses I mapped out.
Now, the process behind the system is not new. I’ve taken many Bible classes that describe the exact steps of mining the truths in a passage. The only difference is that the current method skips the Grammatical origins of the Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic words. However, there is nothing to say you can’t use a Strong’s Concordance to parse those phrases.
I started with Romans 12:1, “Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Legacy Standard Bible)
I wrote the verse in the center of the page and then highlighted the keywords in the passage. Around the center box, I created bubbles and linked them to each keyword. I defined the following words: exhort, mercies, present, sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing, spiritual, service, and worship. Using the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, I defined each phrase according to its basic meaning.
Before moving on, I glanced at the first word of the verse, “Therefore.” Bible Scholars will tell you that if you see a “therefore” at the beginning of a verse, you must find out why it’s there (for). In other words, you have to read the verse or the paragraph before it to understand the passage in context. Thus, the last verse of chapter 11:36 says, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Now, let’s rewrite Romans 12:1in its simplest terms using the definitions from the Webster dictionary. “(Since all things are for His glory), I press you, brethren, by the tenderness of God, to give for consideration, your bodies, as a living spring, set apart, for the sake of obtaining something (i.e.,) giving pleasure to God, which is your renewed nature, and your labor of body and mind, to pay divine honor.”
Wow. That transformed the passage.
From there, I looked at the same verse in different translations. For example, I used a devotional version for one of my reviews. I copied the following phrase from the New Living Translation, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
Next, I wanted to find other verses in the Bible with similar themes. So, I cross-referenced Romans 12:1 with other Bible passages and found these:
1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you were bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.”
Psalm 50:14, “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.”
Deuteronomy 14:2, “For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
Now, let’s apply all that we have learned about Romans 12:1.
We gleaned that everything about us belongs to Jesus Christ because He is worthy of praise and glory. That’s a resounding statement that deserves some thought. Are we brave enough to say that our bodies and minds belong to Him? We should be because that is what the passage is saying.
Paul is pleading with the Romans to give our lives to Him because of His tenderness towards us. God, who could have created and forced us to act and behave specially, allows us to humble ourselves before Him. Why? Because He wants us to love Him genuinely.
Thus, when we present our whole being for consideration, we are saying that we are willing to sacrifice our wills, thoughts, and desires to bring Him praise. To do so, we must give up that cookie, questionable movie, risqué novel, pride, speech, and autonomous spirit to agree with Scripture, which says that ALL of me belongs to Him. May my life be an example of His glory.
It is a powerful passage. I am committing it to memory.
The next time you have a dull streak in your “Quiet Times” with God, may I recommend mining a verse and seeing how God will use it in your life. I promise you you won’t be disappointed.
I used the following free websites:
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lsb/rom/12/1/s_1058001
https://biblehub.com/romans/12-1.htm
https://webstersdictionary1828.com/
You can download a free verse mapping template online.
A Tree Firmly Planted 