Scripture
1-2 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.
Reflection
“What is God’s will for my life?” seems to be a popular question for Christians. God is of one mind concerning us, each of us. There are not three “wills”, three plans if you like; God has just one will for us which is good, pleasing and perfect. Look more closely at what is being said here: What we do with our bodies matters for understanding God’s will; where we go, what we watch, what we listen to. We must offer our bodies as expressions of worship to a holy God, then allow our thinking to be challenged and changed by the Holy Spirit so that we can have the mind of Christ about everything and then, and only then can we test and approve God’s will. In other words, we have some responsibility here (Ps. Dale).
Thoughts for the day
- What does this passage tell us about God and people?
- What do you feel God is telling you through this passage?
- What is one way you can apply this truth to your life today?
- Who can you encourage with this story/message?
Prayer
Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Shanghai Community Fellowship.
