Romans 12 (The Message)
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.
“Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.” Responding to God is like listening to a professor’s deadlines. If a professor tells you a paper is due on Thursday and you turn it on Thursday you get full credit, the highest reward. If the professor lets you know 2 weeks in advance and you act immediately you have 2 weeks to write a paper. On the other hand, you can wait till the last second and turn in a weak paper and get an average grade. God wants the best for us and he wants us to listen to him actively. I was once heard a speaker say “I became a believer when I was 10; I didn’t start listening to God until I was 25. What a waste!” I have to agree with him. 15 years knowing about what God has to offer and yet ignoring it. So much spiritual growth lost. So many years of joy that were sold for what? A chance to fit in?
“ 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.” Our culture in 2009 is sometimes mind-blowing. I have seen girls do outrageous things for attention. I have seen men and women with no self-respect or dignity. Our culture says that the key to life is tolerance and moderation. Our culture says a little weed is ok. Our culture says sexual promiscuity is Ok. I was once naïve to the drug culture that lies beneath but I come across it more and more. The amount of people that I know that do cocaine has been one of the most surprising facts I have ever encountered.There are real problems out there, in people you would never expect. The amount of Christians I know that have regrets regarding their virginity is astounding. Look at the people that people that get the most attention, that make the most of their lives. These are the people that have gone against the grain. The saw the odds were bad and they went for it anyway.
I have been a part of this culture. When I say a part, I literally mean a part not everything that I talk about is something I have been a part of. I was always careful to not let in completely engulf me. It was my way of pretending I was in control. I always prayed and repented for what I had done, but had I truly repented or was this just another formality? My guilt took over my life. I began to drown. God may have wanted to bring the best out in me, but the best was deep down inside and I didn’t want to let it out. My addiction to partying became my end. I kept my depression a secret until the day I landed in jail. The day I will remember for the rest of my life. Something I will address at some point. I don’t talk about it to many people, even though it may be the strongest part of my testimony. I hope that one day I will be more open. Until then, I will write this blog.
RSS Feed