Romans 12:1-2 1 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. 2 – Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Confession… Up until last year I had never eaten a salad. Seriously! When I was growing up my mom would try to get me to eat salad and I would sit at the table until she let me leave with my stomach still lettuce free. Eventually my mom gave up and the rest was history. I would go to a friend’s house and conveniently forget to put a helping of salad on my plate. At Church potlucks and buffet restaurants, I would skip the salad line and go straight to the good stuff. If the topic came up, I would proudly admit that I had never eaten a salad. My dislike of salad was a part of my identity and I knew deep down I would always be the guy who didn’t eat salad.
Then one day my friend Tara challenged me to eat a spinach salad. I told her I would accept the challenge, but that she shouldn’t get her hopes up. She needed to know that I was the guy who hated salad and trying spinach wasn’t going to change that. The funny thing is that while I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the first bite, I didn’t hate it. So I had a second bite, and that bite was a little better than the first. By the time I finished the small bowl, I had to admit that I no longer completely hated salad. It was hard to believe, but I actually kind of liked it. A few days later when I was offered a similar spinach salad, I simply said yes and enjoyed the new addition to my lunch options. I still don’t automatically reach for salad, but that is how I went from the guy who hates salad to the guy who don’t necessarily always hate salad.
Looking back I could see that there were hints that this change was in my future. I had been accidentally preparing myself for the day when I would be offered my first bite of spinach. Secretly, I wanted to be a salad eater, but I just didn’t think I could. I knew the various health benefits and didn’t really enjoy the negative attention that my pickiness attracted. I wanted to change, but I didn’t think it was possible.
Change is like that. Most of us have things that need to be changed in our lives, but we really don’t want to. Other times, we want to change a part of our lives, but we don’t know how. Maybe you want to be less anxious about big decisions you make. Maybe you would like to be more generous with your time or money.
In Romans 12:1-2 we are offered two choices. We can continue to conform to the patterns modeled all around us, or we can be transformed by God’s good, pleasing and perfect will. The key is the renewing of our minds. We need to change our mindset on a daily basis to focus on God’s will. This is no small task, but with practice we can do it. Every minute of your life you are given the choice to turn toward a life focused on God. In our everday lives we have a tendency to become preoccupied with many things that should be secondary to God’s leading.
Will you choose to transform your mind this week?
What is one way you can focus more on God’s will?
Day 2 of 6 from the 2014 Mission Discovery Devotional
