'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,' (Romans 12.1, NKJV).
Reasonable service. God is talking about ‘normal’ service, nothing exceptional – for every believer – the ‘norm’! Today the churches talk about being ‘normal’, take care of yourself, don’t work too hard... But the challenge given by Paul is that ‘reasonable’ service – means giving your WHOLE life as a ‘living sacrifice’! EVERYTHING! Give God EVERYTHING! God did not call me to be an ‘evangelist’ or ‘preacher’ – He said He wanted ALL of me!”
When I was just 15 years old, with a group of young Christians walking along the beach in Brighton, when the Lord spoke to me, drew me aside and challenged me. A spiritual battle started in my life. I knew that the Lord was calling me, challenging me, ‘David – I want YOU!’ But the devil was saying, ‘Don’t you realise you’re saved, you got baptised in water, filled with the Holy Spirit – that’s enough!’ But God was saying, ‘David, I want YOU, all of you, EVERYTHING! – Your life, your family, your time, your house, every single thing – I want the lot!’ I had no peace until that night I gave Him everything.
Give Jesus everything! The more I give Him, the more I receive in return! Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. That is why God says, the only ‘reasonable’ thing is to present your body as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God! – And this is only the beginning, the ‘norm’, the ‘reasonable’ bit! I want the unreasonable, extra-normal! I don’t just want to receive the Holy Spirit like everybody else, I want a double portion, a treble portion, ten times, a hundred times more! I’m hungry for God! I need that anointing, that power! Jesus told of the servant who did what was ‘reasonable’ – everything that was expected of him, but the master did not thank him – it was expected of him! But I want to receive! I’m hungry. I’m thirsty. The more you give, the more God gives back! I remember that tremendous challenge, when God said to me, ‘David, I want YOU!’ That night, I had to say, ‘Lord, I give You everything!’
After I went to bed that night, I had wild dreams that the preacher wouldn’t turn up next day in the church, dreams of evangelising... I was only 15! Next morning was the most glorious day ever! I got out of bed, on my knees and said, ‘Lord, I have given You everything, now I will do whatever You want, I am all Yours!’ I was expecting great things! I went downstairs full of excitement. Today was the day I was going to start preaching to thousands... But the first thing I saw was a row of dirty shoes in the hallway. I have never liked cleaning shoes, either then or now. But the Lord said, “Clean those shoes!” And I did it because I had made a commitment. I polished those shoes as if Jesus Himself was going to wear them! That’s reasonable service. You don’t start at the top, you start at the bottom. I didn’t start by evangelising in great meetings. I started witnessing as a boy in the street, in my school. Where does our Salvation begin? Our Salvation began when Jesus GAVE, when He paid the price – His Sacrifice on the Cross. That’s where our ministry has to begin – giving – sacrifice. It’s only our ‘reasonable’, ‘normal’ service!
I learned the hardest lesson of my life - absolute obedience - DO whatever He says and don't ask questions.
It was just like in the Bible: the very first miracle in the life of Jesus was with Mary His mother at the wedding feast in Cana. They had run out of wine, and Mary - who had never seen her Son work a miracle - told the servants, "Whatever He says, DO IT!" She didn't know Jesus was going to ask then to do something incredibly stupid, unbelievably crazy: fill the empty wine pots, not with more wine - they hadn't any - but with water! This was the first miracle Jesus worked, and Mary, in extraordinary faith, commanded the servants to do whatever He said - which turned out to be something stupid! What did she know? Jesus had never worked a miracle before! Yet when she commanded the men to do whatever Jesus said, He, for the first time in His life, worked a miracle, turning water into wine!
When I cleaned those dirty shoes, I did it as if Jesus Himself would wear them! I have never forgotten this spiritual lesson: DO WHAT HE SAYS EVEN IF YOU DON’T WANT TO DO IT, EVEN IF IT’S CRAZY, EVEN IF IT’s IMPOSSIBLE! That’s how I’ve lived for the last 75 years in ministry, because that’s the only wat to make a miracle happen!
The Lord reminded me many times: Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, to bring forth fruit which shall remain.” As I pass my 93rd birthday and am celebrating 75 years of full-time ministry, as I look back, I thank God with all my heart that when He called me as an 8-year-old boy, I answered, “Here I am, send me.” In my more recent years, I often go back to that scared spot on the sea front near Brighton to thank Him for calling me, aged 15, to give Him everything, and I always take the opportunity to renew that promise I made as a teenager, to give Him EVERYTHING. And I can never forget, when God says to me, ‘do something’ - however crazy it may seem - I do it!