Listen:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)
Reflect:
The foundation of the appeal is God’s wonderful mercy, which is new every morning (great is His faithfulness). What a glorious foundation! Praise the Lord!
What else can I do but give Jesus my heart, my mind, my soul, my body in honor of his mercy and his giving his life for me? Really, this is not a rhetorical question, but for me an existential one: I owe my whole life and my upcoming eternity to Jesus Christ. This offering of my life, my all is what God wants. I am reminded of the verses in Micah “what the Lord requires is to do justly, to love mercy (like God) and to walk humbly with my God.”This pleases God more than anything else.
When I think of “not being conformed” I think of FOMO and keeping up with my neighbor and… even in church I can compare and want to “conform” to worldly values that are not what Jesus would live out. You and I must be very aware of this! So, we must think like Jesus, based on his life modelled to us, based on the scriptures, not based on what the media, the church “celebrities”, the experts tell us is right and true. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus – the initiator AND perfecter of our faith!
Prayer of Response:
Jesus, I thank and praise you for your sacrifice for me, for your mercy for your glorious gift of love and acceptance, and for the power given to us through the Holy Spirit. Father God, thank you that what you want is us, all of us. So we give ourselves to you once again today.
Questions to Ponder:
- What do you want to tell God about today? His mercy? His amazingly great gift of freedom and salvation? FOMO or keeping up with your neighbor? Or do you need to talk to him about how you feel about something happening in your local church or the church culture?
- What can you do today to renew your mind or offer yourself as a living sacrifice?
Breath Prayer:
Join us in praying breath prayers each day. We invite you to write your own as well.
Inhale(Breathe in): Thank you for your mercy.
Exhale(Breathe out): Help me to renew my mind.
(Repeat)
—Submitted by Patty Jehle
Patty Jehle, MA, is a Swiss citizen, born in the USA, and has been living in Switzerland for over 32 years. She is married to Patrik and has three adult children, one son-in-law. And a new grandson, Ethan Felix. She’s a retired university lecturer, and is working as a certified spiritual director, a certified business coach and supervisor, and an independent member care provider and debriefer and is, among other things, a member of the Order of the Mustard Seed. She attended the very first LSM and helped with LSM-Zürich.(www.jehle-coaching.com )