Romans Devotional

Day 46 - Inside Out

Reading: Romans 12:14-21

Reflective Thoughts

Inside out

If you want to get people's attention, say the unexpected. Tell the underclass that the Kingdom of God is meant for them. Tell people that they are blessed if they mourn, or if they are insulted or persecuted (Matthew 5). Jesus said the unexpected, but He did it for more than just getting attention. He did it to expose the heart of a belief system, so that motives and intentions lay bare.

Paul follows suit in these verses. He asks us to do the unexpected-that which is impossible for the world to do. It's not possible for us either, unless by renewing our minds, we are transformed and live inside out.

Day 45 - Crawling Off the Altar

Reading: Romans 12: 1-13

Reflective Thoughts

Crawling off the Altar

Sometimes touching base with friends at the beginning of the week sounds like a comparative analysis of whose schedule is busiest. A recent study in Great Britain suggested that the average parent only has approximately 90 minutes of free time. Granted, the study is based on two-income homes from a slightly different culture-but all of us get the general idea. We're too busy.

Add to that the injunction by the Apostle Paul to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. That might just work because by the end of the day, many of us feel too tired to crawl off the altar. But that's not exactly what Paul is talking about. Instead he refers to a mindset that can only happen if we allow ourselves to be changed from the inside out. The good news is that we don't need lots more free time to do this. But we do need to practice a change in our thinking.

How important is your busy day compared with someone else's needs that interrupt it? How does your expression of hope in Christ determination your witness to fellow believers and your devotion to them? How does your call to be holy affect what you say on the job? To the grocery clerk? We can't crawl off the altar because the altar is everywhere we go.