Lately

Have you read Romans 12 lately? I did, today during my quiet time I read those 21 verses. It was encouraging to my spirit. It offered correction to the thoughts and intent of my heart. In one sense it was like a kick in the teeth. Let me walk you through just a little bit of this chapter.

First of all you start with, logically, at the beginning with the first two verses. Have you thought of them lately? The reader, me first!, is reminded that my body, all of it, physically, emotionally, and spiritually are to be presented to God as an offering of sacrifice to Him. This is not a common idea in our world, but if you consider the original audience, they would immediately picture the sacrifices made in the Temple, animal after animal having it's throat cut so that the blood would flow, leading to death, so that the one offering the sacrifice could be made right, temporarily, with God. Or the reader might think of the pagan idol worship they participated in, before coming to salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and the sacrifices they had made to false gods. Paul tells us to present our bodies as living sacrifices, and it's reasonable for God to expect us to do just that, living as a sacrifice to the Lord Jesus daily.

And then you get into that whole idea of not being conformed to the world, but allowing our whole selves to be transformed: mind, body, soul, and spirit. Who needs that stuff?! Right? That's none of your business how I choose to live my life, or at least that's what I've been told. And yet the Apostle Paul tells us that if we choose to present our bodies this way, and if we choose to submit our worldly desires and passions for the passion of the cross of Jesus, that we will offer proof to those who don't believe that what God says is true really is true. Our lives can be a proof that God's will is good, and acceptable, and perfect.

Then the crazy man, Paul, says that based on what he has just given, as inspired by God the Holy Spirit Himself, we should find our place in the body of Christ, what is that all about anyway?, and gloriously serve our Savior and God. We must find our place and serve, as Paul writes in verse 4, because we don't all have the same abilities (function), gifts, experiences, and passions. Think about it for a minute, God made you and the God saved you, just like you are, because you can be plugged into His body on earth and help it to function like He made a body to function. If you have been gifted to serve, serve. If you have been gifted to teach, teach, if you have been gifted to encourage, encourage, if you have been gifted to give, give, lead, lead, mercy, then be merciful; you get the idea. God didn't make us all the same, so don't try to be like me, but be all of you that God has gloriously made, saved, redeemed, and transformed. It's God in you that makes you the most amazing person you will ever be or become.

Verse 9 speaks for itself. "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good."

I could go on, but why spoil it. Read it for yourself and see. There's more there than meets the eye!