“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”– Rom. 12:1-2
Yeah…It’s Monday…but so what! Every morning is a new morning! Seems like such an obvious statement, but how many of us wake up every morning and consider that truth…especially on Monday? Or do we simply stumble out of bed and go through a routine that has been the same since God created dirt…never stopping to consider the simple truth of God’s grace to us. Every morning is a new morning!
A new morning… a new opportunity to “…present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” And we do this with the full knowledge that we have this new morning and this new opportunity because of the mercies of God. This is a new day to seek God through all that we do… a new day to seek how we can love our God with all that we are and our neighbor as ourselves… a new day to ask God, “What would you have me do today for your glory?”… a new day…a new morning to live for the Lord…in a world that needs us to… whether it recognizes it or not.
The next verses says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” But how do we do this? How do we determine God’s will so as not to conform to this world? Through the years so many people have ask me, “How can I know that I am in the will of God?” I am always happy to tell them that the answers to the most important aspects of God’s will are clearly outlined in the Scriptures. The more we meditate on the Scriptures and do what it says the better WE WILL understand God’s will for our lives. To be sure, the Bible does not tell us which car to buy, what job to take, or which person to marry. But the Scriptures do give us a solid framework for making the best possible decisions that will give the greatest glory to God, be a blessing to one another and then bring us the most satisfaction since we will have fulfilled what God has wanted us to do on that day.
Jesus modeled this truth for us throughout His entire earthly existence. Perhaps, there is no better place to see this than in His wilderness experience and how 3 times He said: “IT IS WRITTEN!” against every attack the devil threw His way, Jesus countered with the Word of God . . . and every counter conquered His adversary.
What was true for Jesus then is true for us today. But we cannot counter with the Word of God unless we know the Word of God; we cannot know the Word of God unless we are reading the Word of God , unless we are in Church having someone guide us…and then living out the Word of God. In this scripture we are commanded to “daily” present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice and not to conform to a world that tells us lies, causes fear and seeks to weaken our faith and is perishing before our eyes. Being a disciple of Jesus means that our influence is Jesus and our minds must be renewed to the point where our hearts are reoriented, which results in our will being realigned to the will of God. This is the work of His Holy Spirit, yet God calls us to take part in this process of renewal. We must discipline ourselves to read the Word of God, to attend church, to pray, and to serve, receive the sacraments and then to live it out.
Think about it this way: God has given us the great privilege of participating in the process of growing to maturity in our faith. To be sure, it is all of grace, His grace…His mercy which is new every morning, but God empowers us to play our role. The more we play our role, the better we can discern God’s will for our lives…the more we are a blessing to others and the more we can glorify our God. As the Spirit of God transforms us from the inside out, our will begins to align with the will of the Almighty. We make decisions that are both pleasing to God and beneficial to others, which bring Him glory.
So did you recognize this morning (Monday of all days) as a new morning…a new opportunity to live out the will of God for His glory?
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
