Scripture:
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
[1] 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. [2] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Observation:
The more I read the bible, the more I feel my heart and desire change. I found the word beseech very interesting this morning. It caught my attention because I had a little bit of an understanding of what it meant, but I didn’t fully understand it if that made sense, so I looked it up. The word means to plead or beg with urgency. So Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, the one who wrote about GOD’S grace and mercy, is in the very same book that he explains the plan of salvation is begging and pleading the lives that we live be lived for GOD. Another way he says this is in Ephesians 4:1. Paul says,”I, therefore,the prisoner of tge LORD, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Again, the word beseech was used again. As Paul sees it, the way we live is important. Over and over again, in his letters, he begs us to live a life that brings glory to the one who gave HIS life for us. Putting down what feeds our flesh and picking up food for our spirit. Verse 2 of Romans 12 continues the thought and helps us to understand how to make the change from fleshly living to a spirit filled life. Paul explains that the world does not live the way that GOD intended for us to live, and in order for our lives to change, we have to think differently. GOD does not operate like the world does. HIS ways are not our ways. HIS thoughts are not our thoughts. So, to live a life of sacrificing what our flesh wants and feeding our spirit, man would include renewing our mind. Doing our best to think and act the way HIS word tells us to.
Application:
I don’t know about you, but for me, the way I was living was not working. I didn’t know what I wanted. I just didn’t want what I had. But I also didn’t know how to get anything any different. I remember being almost trapped by the way I think, and at times, I still can be. I have noticed that for me, I have to constantly renew the way I think. I can tell you when it all started to happen for me. I made a decision to read a book that was like no other I had ever found. Little by little, my thinking changed. As my thinking changed, I started to live differently. Things that were OK to do before became repulsive to me, and I would recoil from them like a hot flame. Some might call it biblical brainwashing the way I think of it is my brain needed washed. My mind was horrible, and GOD’S living word changed that. Learning and applying GOD’S word to my life has given me a renewed hope. I’m going to be honest. Sometimes, it’s still a struggle to remind myself that I need to consider what the bible says before I react. Meeting people with grace is not always easy. But I was met there, and it drew me out of a life that I didn’t know I didn’t want until I found out there was something different. My point is this if you change the way you think you will change the way you live. Let GOD’S word be the lamp unto your feet and the light unto your path.
Prayer:
Father, we don’t want what we used to have. We are new creations because of what your son did on the cross. So what we want to pray this morning is that our lives be a living testimony of what you have done in and through them. You have renewed the right spirit in us, and we want to live in a manner that brings you the utmost glory. This life is not our own it belongs to you bought and paid for by the blood of christ. Let your light shine through us. Living a sacrificial life for you. Renew our minds and give us wisdom and discernment to navigate this life the way that you would have us go it’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.