Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer 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.

My friend Gideon and I have decided that we are going to start getting radical about boasting about our weaknesses--as 2 Corinthians 12:8 talks about. Part of that, we have decided, is reflecting for about 24 hours on a certain scripture. And this is our first one.
And this is my preliminary reflection.

The first thing I notice about this scripture when I read it, is God's mercy. Unfathomable. We as humans screw up sooooo often, many times having to do with the same subject sooooo repeatedly, it's a wonder God doesn't just get rid of us immediately. But he doesn't. He has mercy on us. Or, to make it personal, he has mercy on ME. My life is so screwed up, just because of the fact that I'm human, and God still gives me yet another chance, and then another, and YET another. Why? Because he loves me. He knows I'm trying with my entire being to live for him, and that I have a much larger purpose than wallowing in the everyday mistakes I make, so he sets me up for another chance to do something to show my love.

Which is what he does in this scripture. He sets it up by telling Paul to give this command: be a living sacrifice. But not only be a sacrifice, but offer yourself as a living sacrifice. I don't know about you, but it helps me understand the content better if I know the actual definition of different words that have specific meanings. Like, for instance, sacrifice. To sacrifice means to give up or surrender something for the sake of something else. In this case, you're giving up your body--as the scripture says--for the sake of being holy and pleasing to God. That means that whatever your body feels at any point in time--fill in the blank--it doesn't matter. Because God has mercy on you, you should want to show your gratitude by striving for holiness as best you can. And you know that can't be accomplished on your own--as humans, like I said, we are ridiculously weak. We can't swat a fly without the help of a plastic device to squash it for us. So what we need to do is sacrifice ourselves completely to God--surrender ourselves, give our carnal desires up--to show our gratitude--our worship--to God. Because of what God has done for us, we need to show gratitude. I know I can't help but do that. I know what he brought me from.

Verse 2 goes on to say that we shouldn't blend in with the standards set by the world, and follow its patterns--and by that I mean that anything that separates a true Christian/disciple from anything they would consider "the world"; instead, we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Go back and read that last part again. Transformed. Renewing. I'm gonna be a stickler again and give definitions for each of these words.
Transformed: "To change the nature, function, or condition of."
Renewing: "reviving, restablishing."
Okay, let's put that into context: Change the nature, the function, the condition of your mind by reviving and restablishing it.
Alright. Now what does that mean? Well, it's not put after verse one for nothing. Sacrificing yourself, your body, to God, and living for him will alone transform your mind, and renew it. When I say "living for him" however, I mean truly living for him. Not just saying that you live for him. Nothing transforms if there's only half a plan, or half a heart behind the plan. You can plan to change the nature of the economy, President Obama, but unless your entire heart is behind it, it's never gonna happen. (Disclaimer: I am not making a political statement. I am stating an example of a decision that truly needs a full heart--that needs sacrifice, in order to be accomplished. And for the record, there is no authority on earth that hasn't been established by God, so President Obama, I pray that your plan for the economy is seen through to fruition.)
So anyway, truly living for God, truly sacrificing yourself to be holy and pleasing before your Eternal Father, will find your mind transformed. It will find your mind renewed in its habits, in the normal thought patterns that are formed throughout the day, consciously and unconsciously.

Hmm...interesting thought. Gideon, if you're reading this, you're hitting the nail on the head today with this scripture. Amen.

The rest of the verse goes on to say "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
So after you sacrifice your desires/feelings to be holy and pleasing before God, and after your mind is transformed and renewed as a result of truly living for Him, you will be able to know what to do to, and you'll know how to challenge the knowledge you have and are presented to discern whether or not it is truly God's will. What is God's will though? It's whatever God wants from us--what he wants us to do, where he wants us to go, what he wants us to say...the list of the question words is limitless. As we continue in God's word, studying it out, getting deep to the heart of the matter, the Spirit reveals to us what God wants from us at that time--whether it be more humility, more strength, more trust...it's what God wants from us. Plain and simple.

So amen. Who knew 2 verses could say so much? I certainly never thought about this verse to that extent before...even though I've read it countless times. But God's will is for me to get something from this verse. And amen, I certainly did. There is definitely much to think about, to mull over...to meditate on. So as I meditate on this scripture, and what exactly God wants from me from this verse, here's a challenge. You do it too. Really think deeply about this verse, and what God could possibly want you to hear from the words written on that page. Even if you've read that very verse a hundred times a thousand. I'm sure there's something new there. God still reveals stuff like this to me in verses I've read and even thought deeply about before. But the season is different for every situation. So I have to be prepared, and be able to test and approve what exactly God wants from me.

To God be the Glory!!! and May his grace be enough for you!!!

I love you all <3