I was reminded of this verse at prayer meeting tonight.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 (NIV)
But I love how the New Living Translation puts it, “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Again, it is another revelation as I look at the verse this round. Allow me to put it in another form yet doesn’t diminish its meaning, “If we conform or follow the pattern of this world, we will NOT be able to know what God’s will is.”
I always thought that the price that Christians have to pay for the sake of following Jesus is always about tough and scary situations and persecutions, like being stoned for proclaiming Jesus, being put behind bars, being sacked for upholding what is right and uphold integrity, cold-wars, rejections, and hardpress from family and friends... Today I was knocked awake that a huge-and-not-easy-at-all price that we have to pay in our walk with God is to renounce the world and put the world behind us. Too easy to say, difficult to attain, yet it’s what we are asked to do.
It’s about putting the old and worldly self behind, and embrace and be clothed with the new self in Christ. It is about being transformed by the way we think, relate and view this world. Yet, a Christian’s life transformation doesn’t take place overnight. It requires a daily decision, a daily determination, a daily discipline, a daily sacrifice, and accompanied by a daily portion of grace. It is a process, a journey, perhaps an arduous journey. Take for an example to be a world-class athlete. It involves a decision to say this is what I am going to take up in my life. Determination to say no matter what occurs along the way I am so gonna achieve this, perhaps setting a time frame, goals, objectives etc. Discipline includes specific daily intake, sufficient rest, solid schedule and training programme, employ a personal trainer, etc... Sacrifice includes giving up unhealthy fast food, to go somewhere afar from home for better training, missing out other entertainments in life, etc… And by God’s grace, after years of training with no mishap or unfortunate event taking place, one can make it there.
Yet following Jesus is a life-long thing. Easily we will get distracted along the way, especially when we are walking through faith crisis and knowing the fact that we are imperfect and weak beings. We can easily opt out. However, it’s our choice to make yet knowing we can ask the Spirit to guide and lead us on.
So, Pattern of the world or Pattern of Christ? True enough we can only choose one. We can’t serve two masters. We can’t be faithful to both. You marry one, you don’t marry two. We are born with flesh. And the Bible says the flesh belongs to the world. Allow me to say by nature, we are concerned about the world, what the world says, what the world thinks, what the world does, what the world believes, instead of being concerned of what God … what God … We are concerned of how to gel in this world, our acceptance and approval by the world, our position and status in the world rather than dwelling, acceptance and status in the Kingdom of God. But at the same time, we want to know the will of God, we want to know God’s plan for us, we want to be blessed, we want to receive anointing, we want our requests and petitions to be answered and granted … But it is like wanting both darkness and light to coexist at the same time. Both evil and good to rule at the same time… Hard hey? Let’s take a look at what Paul urges us the children of Light in Ephesians 4:17-24.
“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
We can’t attain it by our own. But “For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.” ~ Psalms 18:29
I am learning, I am growing!
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