Be transformed, not conformed
Romans 12 (New Revised Standard w/ Apocrypha)
1I 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.2Do 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.
Do you remember when Silly Putty first came on the market? We had so much fun copying images from the comics, or making little animals with it. It was pliable and did pretty much what we asked of it.
We, too, are supposed to be pliable, doing whatever God asks of us. When God says, “I am holy, you be holy, too,” that is not a suggestion, it is a command. We see in today’s scripture that Paul got it. He is telling the Romans that presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is one way to worship God.
Wow. Do you get it? Worshipping God is not to be relegated to Sunday, but it is an every day occurrence where we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. And how do we renew our minds? We should renew our minds by daily entering into God’s presence through prayer and scripture reading.
John Wesley believed that the way to holiness is by adhering to the ordinances of the church, those being baptism, Holy Communion, prayer and scripture reading (both communal and private), and fasting. Of these ordinances, the two that we can follow daily are prayer and scripture reading. There is no other pathway to holiness except through the Word of God and that pathway will become rocky and dark if we fail to the light the way by the illumination found in Scripture.
Prayer: Father, we thank you for your Word which is light and life for all who read it and believe it. May we be transformed today into your image as we walk the pathway marked “Holy” and determine to live according to your will. Amen
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- Tagged: Blogs, Prayer, Scripture, Transformed
Seeking Holiness 