Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Mid-Week Message - Be Transformed

 "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  Romans 12:2  (NLT)  

There are so many things that my parents said to me that I will never forget.  Things like, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?"  Or, "I don't care what they are allowed to do, I'm not their mother!"  Which of us can't relate?  When we are young we want to do what we perceive  "everyone else" is doing, or have what "everyone else" has.  Thank the good Lord for wise parents!  

Especially when we are young, peer pressure is a mighty force.  Desiring friends, we attempt to dress the same way, act the way they do and speak the same language as those we want to be grouped with.  It is important to us to be seen with the right people so others will know that we belong.  Unfortunately, that desire often leads in the wrong direction and those we align ourselves with lead us into activities or lifestyles that we should never have been a part of.  

Good parents, knowing this, make every effort to instill in their children the knowledge that they are individuals with their own talents and gifts and that they should be true to who they know they are rather than compromising their principles just to be liked.  They get them involved in activities and groups that support the wishes they have for their child rather than abandoning them to find their own way. 

The verse today speaks of much the same thing.  Our Father in Heaven desires to transform us so that His good and pleasing and perfect will might be accomplished in and through us.  

I'm a reader and I love seeing how authors weave their stories.  Each character is different as is their purpose in the story.  When each of us was created, God had a purpose in mind.  Because of that, we were each given different personalities.  We like and dislike different things.  Some can play the violin, some can run fast, some are happiest when serving others.  His signature is on each soul and He is the One, if we allow Him to, who writes our individual stories.

But there is more than that.  Each of our stories is part of something greater.  Jesus was sent to atone for the sins of the world.  We are connected, you and I, through Him.  When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we become children of God and are one in Christ.  

As His children, we need to seek His will and allow Him to transform our minds through spending time with Him in His Word and in prayer.  While we are in this world that will pass away and where evil is rampant, we should remember that eternity with the Lord awaits us and He has a job for us.  While time remains, we need to make sure that we share the Gospel with all that we can so that they, too, might come to have a personal, eternal relationship with God the Father.  

My heart is heavy for this world as I see more and more people choosing to conform rather than allowing themselves to be transformed.  We have no promise for tomorrow so we never know when the last chance to accept Him will come.  My prayer is for urgency to be in the hearts of those who love Him and that many will hear the truth and reach for Jesus.  God bless!



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