Romans 12:1-2; A thought for the week

Place Your Life Before God

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."

We looked at worship this Sunday in youth church, and used this passage from Romans 12. I love the way it's put in the Message paraphrase- its so simple and yet immensely challenging. This week take your "everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering" There is nothing that we can't do for the glory of God, there is no part of our lives that cannot be used to advance his Kingdom in some way. Being a 'Sunday Christian' and compartmentalising your life so God is stuck in a 'church box' is just not how its supposed to be. We need to think through the issues that surround being a Christian in our everyday lives, and lean on God for wisdom and strength, so that we might shine out like stars and point people to Him.

But this is not a one way street, as God gets glory from us living for Him, we find that we are being changed by Him, and that is amazing. Embracing what God wants for us is the best thing we could do, because He knows what He is doing and will change us from the inside out so that we might fulfil our God-given potential. Jesus said "I have come that they might have life in all its fullness", and isn't that what we all want? Going to church once a week will not bring that fullness, only living for Him everyday can bring that kind of purpose and satisfaction!

If involving God in every area of your life seems an overwhelming prospect, then just break it down a little bit, all we have to do is live for God one decision at a time, each day looking to Him to bring out the best in us. It is a marathon, not a sprint, that means there will be ups and downs, changes of pace, times when it's easy, and times when we hit the wall. In all of this we know God's grace is sufficient for all our needs, and there is nothing He cannot do!