The thought so far

It has been said that the problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar, and how true that is. For years I thought that I wanted to serve God, but I almost never prayed, or read my bible let alone study it. I played a mind game with myself then wondered why this God stuff did not work. All the time God patently tried to instruct me and bring me to Him. Finally He had to bring me to a place where I wanted to change. Where I not only wanted to trust Him, but where I had no choice but to trust Him.
In the Old Testament there were different kinds of sacrifices and offerings. Some were burnt, some were waved. The one offering the sacrifice always had to identify himself with the sacrifice. And the sacrifice that was alive always died. In the New Testament the one offering the sacrifice does not identify with it, but instead is the sacrifice. And now the sacrifice is always living. But one thing that stays the same is that the sacrifice has no merit in and of itself. The merit is in the one sacrificed to.