We made it, it has been almost 2 months, if you are still with me on this journey, thank you.
Let’s do it, No.1.
01. And so, dear brothers and sisters I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behaviour 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.
OK, here is my number 1 section of the bible (at the moment.)
However, it is a bit of weird one to choose and unravel. The idea of a sacrifice and it being me is all a bit weird really. So what does it mean? Well a sacrifice like this is like saying something is dedicated to and set aside for this cause. This is not however like the radicalised expression we see in the world today where a person’s ‘dedication and sacrifice’ means the loss of life for others. It is totally the opposite.
Eyes not lusting, tongue not cursing, hands not creating wrong, feet not walking us into sin and away from God. Instead your hands can build for good and help others, your ears can listen to the hurt in the lives of others and your mouth can speak blessing, encouragement and life.
The point of this for me is that we don’t copy the pattern of this world and how it behaves, it’s customs and expectations that are all around us. The ‘me first’ mentality, stepping on people to get to the top, buying more whatever the cost, grabbing a bargain at someone else’s expense. We should not be focused on getting but trying to give, leaning on grace, forgiveness and truth rather than un-forgiveness, suspicion and lies.
In our lives there will always be choices and we can chose to respond, act and behave how the world would expect us to. If someone hurts you the expectation is you hurt them back. If someone forgets to invoice you for that thing you bought, the expectation is to not tell them and get a free item. If someone breaks your trust you need to not trust them again it goes on. The thing is, I believe Jesus calls us to be transformed in the way that we think about this stuff. If the world goes one way, chances are we need to be looking and asking the question ‘what does it mean to go the other way?’
Do you bless when everyone expects you to curse? Do you love when everyone calls for hate? Do you forgive when the world would seek revenge? This has been my number 1 for a while now, what’s yours?
