Romans 12:1-2 NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 Phillips With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
Romans 12:1-2 MSG So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Observation
I include the same verses from three translations here to make a point. All of them express the same request (submit completely to the Holy Spirit’s work in you) and promise the same result (spiritual maturity). As with all of us, each translator expresses himself/herself in their own unique way. Being “conformed to this world”, allowing the world/culture to “squeeze you into its own mould” or becoming “so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking” – which one creates a better picture for you of how the culture around us will change us if we don’t submit ourselves to God and allow the Holy Spirit to be in charge of how we represent Jesus by our lives in this world?
These verses are about becoming like Jesus – choosing to be a living sacrifice – taking our everyday, ordinary life and placing it before God as an offering. Paul makes it clear that becoming like Jesus is not automatic, easy, comfortable or for the faint of heart. Becoming more like Jesus is an on purpose sacrifice of fitting in with the culture of the world in which we live. Not only can we not fit in with the obvious evil we see, but we must also be willing to turn over the tables (the sacred cows) of religion. Neither is easy, but both are necessary if we want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Impact on Me
I am a person who wants shalom, but shalom is much different than peace-keeping. Shalom is peace-making. As a matter of fact, achieving shalom often requires standing up for the unpopular truth, being misunderstood by even those I love. My culture wants me to be “kind and merciful” enough to forget that human goodness does not gain heaven on its own. My culture wants me to accept sinful conduct as the norm because “everybody is doing it.” Rather than judging and condemning them, does my heart ache to see those redeemed who are blinded by my culture? God’s heart ached so for all humankind that Jesus, God made Man, made the great sacrifice of dying for us all. How can I help them to come face-to-face with Jesus?
So, for me shalom, that redemptive wholeness of living in the presence of God, comes from learning to be a peace-maker – being a forgiver, turning the other cheek, becoming difficult to offend, going the extra mile, praying for those who spitefully use me, seeing past the behavior of a person to recognize a soul that needs healing and redemption, and so much more. These are the types of sacrifices Paul is asking me to make – counter to my worldly culture but representing pure heaven-culture.
Devotion
Everlasting Father, God of Love and Mercy, Redeemer, Lord of All, Your goodness and mercy chases after me even when I think I don’t deserve it. Give me the heart of Jesus for the outcasts as well as the “in group” (cultural influencers) who are blinded by this worldly culture. Give me Jesus’ insight into the wounded and confused souls of those who might be offensive or disrespectful to me so I might have compassion for them. Make me a peace-maker so that Jesus can continue His redemptive work in and through me – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19 NKJV) In Jesus’ name, I pray.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 