Devotional Messages

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Romans 12:1-2 – 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 renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. (NRSV)

There are a lot of times when it’s pretty easy to skate along with your faith, going to church when you can, praying when you need to, being kind to others as well as you’re able.  It seems that Jesus did the heavy-lifting, so we’re able to rely on grace and just do our best, without too much personal discomfort.

Then there are those moments when we’re suddenly faced with the reality that our faith is supposed to make a difference in how we live our lives, that it actually requires something of us.  And we realize that all those moments when we skimmed the surface of Christianity didn’t serve us well, if we really want to be prepared to follow Jesus.

Paul warns us not to be “conformed to this world,” and he chose his words wisely.  It’s really hard not to conform to the world, because the ways it affects our minds and hearts, our beliefs and actions, our assumptions and habits are so subtle, we don’t even always recognize it’s happening.  The world is sometimes very good at lulling us into believing that everything is just fine.  But occasionally, and definitely right now, seasons arise when it becomes painfully clear that is not true.

The idea that our faith might require a personal sacrifice, even a bodily one, is rather shocking, especially if we haven’t been vigilant in avoiding being conformed to the world.  If everything is fine, why would a sacrifice be necessary?  But if we think of our regular faith activities as a chance to engage in the “renewing of our minds”, that is, if we consciously bring to mind how the ways of the world are not God’s ways, when we’re in worship, in prayer, in Bible study, it becomes easier to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God’s will.

There is much discerning of the will of God in our lives at the moment.  It is right that we should struggle to determine what is and isn’t good and acceptable and within God’s perfect love.  If we can devote ourselves to opening up to the Spirit’s transforming, reconciling power, we will be able to see God’s will for our world and to act upon that vision, which is, as Paul puts it, our spiritual worship.