Every so often you hear about an electrical power plant losing power. Whether it was caused by weather or failed mechanicals of one kind or another, the loss of power immediately causes a power outage to every place that is serviced by the power plant. Residential and commercial power is restored only when the power plant is fully operational. Every time I think about Romans 12:1-2 I think about a power plant.Remember how it goes? "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spirtual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
Romans 12:1-2 usually shows up on the memory verse list before we reach fifth grade Sunday school class. Like a lot of memory verses we learn it “by itself”. Only as we get older and read our bibles more carefully do we realize that these two verses serve as the heading for 19 more verses!
I’ve heard a lot of lessons and sermons on the gifts listed in verses 3-8 and the discipleship described in verses 9-21. I still remember a bolt of insight that shot through me during my undergraduate days at Abilene Christian University. One beautiful fall day as we sat listening to Dr. Ian Fair present another well-prepared and stimulating lecture from the book of Romans he paused as he came to Romans 12, looked us straight in the eye and said, “Romans 12:3-21 will always be stunted in your life unless it is connected to 12:1-2.” What great insight! Ever since that day, my perspective of Romans 12 has changed and matured in many ways.
Romans 12:1-2 is the power plant for everything that follows in the chapter. The gifts in 12:3-8 and the discipleship described in 12:9-21 come to life as we remember that God’s mercy makes everything possible. To borrow from Paul, “by the grace of God we are what we are!” Our awareness and appreciation of God’s mercy should compels us onto our respective altars as living sacrifices. We meet each day with the resolve to offer our lives “in worship” as those called to share our gifts and give expression to the gospel in actions and behavior that give witness to the fact that we are those “transformed in mind”.
When I struggle with the things in 12:3-21 I find myself drawn to reflection on 12:1-2. Appreciation of God’s mercy toward me, crawling on the alter, surrendering my mind and heart to something God needs me to understand and embrace in my heart helps me realign my life with the things outlined in 12:3-21. I find that the lights stay on in my “life house” when the power plant of Romans 12:1-2 is working. Are the lights burning in your house? Check the switches in 12:1-2. There’s a lot of power there and it starts with God.
O Lord, apart from you we can do nothing. We know we can’t live in the world the way you need us to without staying connected to a healthy perspective of faith. Refresh us in your mercy. Help us climb on our altars everyday. Shape our thinking and remove things that congest our minds, enslave us and paralyze our gifts and our service. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of what you do in Jesus. Because of Jesus…Amen
Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas
No comments:
Post a Comment