Romans 12:1: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
John Wesley was raised in a preacher’s home by a godly mother, Susanna Wesley. At age 6, he was rescued from a house fire by someone pulling him out of a window at the last minute. After this, he felt that God had a special calling on his life, and called himself “a brand [branch] plucked from the burning.”
He became a preacher and professor, but still didn’t know for certain if he was right with God, not realizing that he could be right with God by faith instead of his own efforts. At age 35, he put his faith fully in Christ for his salvation, and “felt his heart strangely warmed,” believing that he was accepted by God.
He preached all across England, founded the Methodist movement, and over 130,000 people were Methodists by the time he died. He and his brother Charles Wesley, wrote many hymns and many sermons. He wrote this prayer as a renewal of commitment to God to be used at the New Year, but it’s good for any time:
“I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”
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