Filtering
“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. 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.” Romans 12:1-2
Insight
I, like so many of us, have struggled over these last few months of quarantine. Living as an immunocompromised person in this season has been eye-opening. There are so many opinions, tensions, and conflicts that the world is just begging us to step into right now. It’s challenging to know what the right thing to do is. It is even, at times, overwhelming.
With day to day life looking so different than what we thought it would look like even four short months ago, it is important for us Christ-followers to understand this passage from the book of Romans and apply it to our lives.
The language in this passage is strong. “Therefore, I URGE you, brothers and sisters…” this verse starts by fervently urging us into action in obedience to God, holding us accountable in love by calling us brothers and sisters. This is such a beautiful example of how we are meant to hold each other accountable as Christ-followers, even when we disagree. To walk according to God’s way, not the world’s way. We are brothers and sisters in Christ first. Regardless of opinions and experiences and circumstances. We are children of God, called to live in obedience to Him and to love one another.
The passage continues: “…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.” We are given a choice here to OFFER ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. To live in obedience to God—to CHOOSE to offer ourselves to God. This is so beautiful, that we are given a choice, and by choosing to offer ourselves to God we are pleasing Him. This is our true and proper worship, how we live our lives. What choices we make every day. This is how we worship Him.
Every decision that I’ve made over the last few months has been through the lens of being immunocompromised amid a pandemic. I recognize that while this may be my reality, it is not the reality for everyone else. So I must have compassion for others who view the world through a different lens than me and remember first to seek God’s wisdom, then to lean in and learn from each other.
The discipline of filtering every choice I make and every action I take through the lens of my health issues right now means that I am thinking about it all the time. But trusting the truth of God’s word has given me strength and perspective.
What if we take that discipline and apply it to how we walk with God? Our surrender intervals, like Mike says, should be as frequent as every breath we breathe in. This is true and proper worship.
“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.”
I know that my body is weak. But through these last few months, I’ve learned that my mind is also vulnerable, and I need to walk closely with the Lord in every moment to rely on His strength fully. If I choose to walk alone, I’m allowing my thoughts to conform to the world. But if I decide to walk with God, I’m trusting that His way is higher even when I don’t understand it. I am choosing to let God transform me rather than the ways of the world, and this pleases Him.
Reflection
Are you choosing to conform to the ways of the world or God’s ways?
What decisions are you filtering through the lens of your relationship with God?
Prayer
God, make me more like You. Teach me to turn away from conforming to the patterns of the world and instead renew my mind. Help me to walk more closely with You, God. In my weakness, show Your strength so that I would know You more deeply. Amen.
Kayla Daughtridge (Grow Zone Volunteer Coordinator for the Wilmington Campus) wrote today’s devotional.
