Two-minute read.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul asked them to surrender their bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord. Paul appealed to them because of the mercies God had already done for them. This means giving God our actual, everyday lives, not just giving Him our thoughts for an hour on Sunday.
After all, if you only ate once a week, what would that do to your body?
Living for Christ means more than just going to church on Sunday and then putting Him back in the box. Following Jesus means choosing to pursue Him every day. Our bodies become a living sacrifice when we continually surrender to God.
In other words:
Your hands belong to God.
Your words belong to God.
Your time belongs to God.
Your choices belong to God.
Your ordinary Tuesday belongs to God.
All this equals faith expressed in how we actually live.
So this morning, when I cleaned out my attic and craft room, I did so to the Lord. Taking my time and systematically going through everything, one object at a time, I created piles for donation, trash, and keep. Then I organized everything into one of these three categories. Once finished, I loaded my car, drove to a local Christian organization, and made my donation so they could make money from what I no longer needed.
The Lord calls us not to become like the world, but to become like Christ. We shouldn’t just identify what we shouldn’t do; we should allow God to transform us into new creatures. When transformation happens, we become altogether changed.
And it all starts in the mind.
As we renew our minds in Christ, spending time with Him, in the Word, and with others, transformation occurs.
“Someone else can use this” became my prevailing thought this morning as I worked. Thinking about others and working as if for the Lord motivated me to finish the job when I wanted to quit. When I wanted to leave everything to sit for a day before donating it, a nudge from within said, “Do it today.”
And so I did.
And now, having finished the mundane job, I feel God’s pleasure at my obedience. My thoughts led my actions, and even in the most boring tasks, the Lord transformed me.
God’s mercies change what we give Him; His truth changes how we think. And a transformed mind produces a transformed life.
Journal Questions:
- What area of your everyday life do you need to surrender more fully to God as an act of worship?
- What thoughts, attitudes, or influences may be shaping you more than God’s Word, and how can you allow Him to renew your mind?
- What would a genuinely transformed life look like for you in this season, and what is one step you can take toward becoming more like Christ?
Application:
Commit an everyday task to the Lord and see how He uses it to transform you.
