The way of the world is the easier way. The way of God is the harder way.
A few days ago I went into the kitchen at our house and tried to open a new bag of cereal ~ a plastic pouch where you tear off the top then reseal it…I was fumbling around determined to succeed! Sally came into the kitchen, saw me struggling to get it just right, picked up the scissors ~ YES, I knew they were there on the counter beside me!, and said, “try these.” She deflated my challenge to tear it off. I took the scissors, cut a straight line in 2 seconds, the sealing part worked, I expressed disappointment at not meeting my self imposed challenge, and Sally says, “Sorry I don’t think like a man.” Obviously Sally’s brain works better than mine! The Lord wants us to renew our mind…. A new way of thinking….
In Rom. 12:1 the word “Therefore” is a hinge… based on everything up to this point, Rom. 1-11, this is how you respond: make a whole hearted commitment to the Lord. Take the hard way: renew our minds, do the will of God. The wholeness of the Christian life is not only what we believe, but also how we live, the choices we make, our attitudes towards others, peace between brothers and sisters, acceptance of one another.
A few days ago I went into the kitchen at our house and tried to open a new bag of cereal ~ a plastic pouch where you tear off the top then reseal it…I was fumbling around determined to succeed! Sally came into the kitchen, saw me struggling to get it just right, picked up the scissors ~ YES, I knew they were there on the counter beside me!, and said, “try these.” She deflated my challenge to tear it off. I took the scissors, cut a straight line in 2 seconds, the sealing part worked, I expressed disappointment at not meeting my self imposed challenge, and Sally says, “Sorry I don’t think like a man.” Obviously Sally’s brain works better than mine! The Lord wants us to renew our mind…. A new way of thinking….
In Rom. 12:1 the word “Therefore” is a hinge… based on everything up to this point, Rom. 1-11, this is how you respond: make a whole hearted commitment to the Lord. Take the hard way: renew our minds, do the will of God. The wholeness of the Christian life is not only what we believe, but also how we live, the choices we make, our attitudes towards others, peace between brothers and sisters, acceptance of one another.
Based on what Christ has done for us (Rom. 1-11), his mercy, therefore, transform your mind, a new way of thinking, a new way of living. Do not do as the world does, “do not conform to the pattern of this world”, ~ that’s the easy way ~ but act and think in the pattern of God ~ “God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.” ~ that’s the hard way!
Paul “urges” the people to renew their minds. This is important! I’m tired of seeing people stuck in mediocrity, complaining about their life but appearing to do nothing about it. Take the hard way of the Lord…
Paul talks about a living sacrifice in Rom. 12:1. We are not as familiar with sacrifices as first century people ~ an animal taking our place is burned on an alter to secure forgiveness or offer thanksgiving. Jesus is the final sacrifice, taking our place. Even though no literal animal sacrifice is ever needed again, the idea of our bodies, which I think means everything we are, is to be given to God for his sake. READ Rom. 12:1. My life is not my own, I give my life to the Lord. I am a living sacrifice. Sacrifice means: To Make Holy. We wrongly define sacrifice as giving up completely, such as my money ~ that may happen if that is what God wants, but the real meaning is to set something apart for God. Take my house... If I sacrifice my house, I am saying “Lord, it is yours to do as you will.” I may occupy it, but it is sacrificed, it now belongs to God. My body, everything about me, is now God’s! We need to move ourselves off the throne of the universe and put Him at the Center.
READ Rom. 12:2. We wrestle with understanding God’s Will… God’s will is usually thought of in terms of what does God WANT us to do ~ who should we marry? where should we move? school? Job? Should I take on this responsibility or that task? That is part of it, but God’s will is better thought of as HOW we are to live. READ Micah 6:8// A pastor friend once told me in speaking of difficult marriages that God’s will is that you are married to whoever you are married to. That makes perfect sense if you understand God’s will is foremost defined by our attitude. If you think God’s will is primarily about what he wants us to do, the decisions we make, you will miss God’s desire for our hearts, our minds, our walk with him…
If we are honoring God and living with the peace that only he can provide, that is living in God’s will. A renewed mind and God’s will are intertwined in Rom. 12:2. A loving parent cares less about what their children do after they leave home and more about their character. Who they are is more important than what they do. As our minds are renewed in the Christ Jesus way, then what we do is not as important as who we are in Christ…
This does not mean there is a license to do anything and declare if we feel good about it it is God’s will. E.g. disobeying any of the ten commandments is not God’s will ~ no other gods, no idols, no abuse of God’s name, remember the Sabbath, honor your parents, do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie, do not be jealous (Ex. 20:2-17). Sin is never God’s will. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” ~ there are guidelines of right and wrong. God wants us to honor our word, make full commitments instead of half commitments the world is so fond of making ~ many more guidelines of obedience…you can attempt to follow the will of God according to the Book/a set of rules, that’s a beginning,…but what God really wants is our heart to be conformed to his heart, our mind transformed to desire what he desires, his ways be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
Living as fully committed Christians who sacrifice self desires and live for God, is what God desires above all else, people who live not as the world lives, but with renewed minds. The way of the world is the easy way ~ we are called to take the harder way of following God. The famous quote by John Lennon is scratching at the truth: “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
What is God’s will? A transformed mind, not thinking as the world thinks, but thinking, feeling, the way God wants us to think. READ Rom. 12:2. Happiness is not my answer for what God wants, unless by happiness you mean godly contentment, a peace beyond understanding…using the word describing God’s ways in Rom. 12:1, we are to be adopt mercy as the way… to deeply care about others and treat them in ways they do not deserve. Mercy is to offer kindness to people who are wounded/hurting. This is what God has done for us in our sins ~ we are called to be people of mercy: this is God’s will…. We cannot fail in doing God’s will if our minds are so focused on him that we are living sacrifices devoted to God. One of my favorite professors, Dr. Colin Brown, was asked what he would be doing if he weren’t teaching at Fuller Seminary. I’d probably be a janitor, he said. He was not demeaning janitors, he was simply saying that whatever we do, it’s character that matters ~ Janitor, world renown theology professor, no difference… our character is far more important than what we do…
Do not conform to the pattern of this world…. Live for Christ and stand up against this world’s dead-end temptations! The pull of this old world is tempting. I like what the KFC guy, Colonel Sanders had to say about how to succeed. He calls it “The Hard Way”:
It is comparatively easy to prosper by trickery, the violation of confidence, oppression of the weak, sharp practices, cutting corners …It is difficult to prosper by the keeping of promises, the delivery of value in goods and services, honorable deeds….
The easy way is slippery and quick – the hard way is arduous and long. But, as the clock ticks, the easy way becomes harder and the hard way becomes easier. And as the calendar records the weeks, months and years, it becomes increasingly evident that the easy way rests hazardously upon shifting sands, whereas the hard way builds solidly a foundation of confidence and trust that cannot be swept away…
Rom. 12:2 says “test” God’s will. “prove,” “discern,” Rom. 12:2 is not about “discovering” God’s will as much as it is “proving” God’s will is always good, acceptable and perfect. If your mind is rewired to live for Christ, whatever shape your life takes is God honoring. When I was a young pastor in Pasadena an old time AC Pastor said to me, “I’ve always been a little bit mad at your dad, he is so talented, so much to offer, and he has spent a lifetime in Sumas, that little burr of a town. What a waste!” ~~~~ My father is my hero because he was a man at peace with God. Everything about him breathed he was in God’s will in Sumas, WA. And if he would have been called to the U.S. Senate as a chaplain, called to preach to the penguins of Antarctica, a janitor or even a lowly bus driver, he would have been a man doing God’s will because that is where his mind was….A renewed mind, a living sacrifice, is more significant than the what we do…
When we get caught up trying to figure out God’s will, what does he want me to do? change focus and instead ask the Lord to renew your mind. Peace. Then as you live life in the world, test God’s will. Three words are used to describe the “will of God.”
God’s will is good. That means that doing things God’s way will always prove to be for our ultimate benefit. God’s will, his way, his path are always good for us. The way of the world is the easy way. The way of God is the harder way. But in time, as the clock ticks, we come to realize that God’s way is always good.
God’s will is acceptable. ~ pleasing to God. It means to live in such a way that God says at the end, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But it also means that living God’s way is pleasing/satisfying to us personally. Not easy, because carrying a cross is not an easy thing to do. But in the end, those who live for Christ will be happier than those who don’t. It’s really as simple as that. If you have the peace of Christ you will be far more flexible in responding positively to different situations. I read once that if you want to test a man’s character, give him a responsibility/ power, then take it away. If you are living for Christ, putting Christ on the throne of the universe instead of you, whether he gives you little or much, gives or takes away, it is all to his glory and it is good. The crumb’s from God’s banquet table is good and acceptable if the Lord is at the center.
God’s will is perfect. ~ complete or whole. If you live for God, you will come to the end of your life satisfied. You will need no more. Your bucket list will be complete!
If you live for the world, you will have the world’s reward, which will satisfy you for only a short time. If you live for God, you will demonstrate to yourself and those who know you that God’s way is always good, pleasing and perfect.
The way of the world often seems much more exciting than the way of the Lord. As one person said, “We hear the call of the wild and we think, “I’m tired of living by the Book. I’m going to throw off my restraints and have a good time.” And like the Prodigal Son, we have a blast while our money lasts. Only at the end do we end up eating with the pigs.” The easy way of the world becomes harder and harder to find satisfaction. I see it with addictions that are so much fun in the beginning, but in the end the addictions enslave you.
God’s way is slower and often harder. But, as the clock ticks, the easy way becomes harder and the hard way becomes easier. We must strive every day to prove to ourselves and to others that God’s way is best. I think this is why Rom. 12:2 uses the word “test.” It will not be easy at first. When you take the easy way of the world, it turns out hard in the long view, but when you take the hard path of following God’s will, it always ultimately turns out to be the only easy way there is.
We must all learn this lesson for ourselves. I can preach it, I can scold people. I can even tell you of my own experience, which might encourage you, but still you must prove this truth in your own life. The words of Rom. 12:1-2 are directed at each one of us to make that personal decision: the hard way of making a commitment to the Lord. To know the will of God is to take your ordinary life, place it before God as an offering, and God will bring you the best he has for you. He will be pleased and it will be proven to you everyday that whatever happens, your ordinary life will be extraordinary because whatever you do will be good, pleasing and perfect. Amen.
Paul “urges” the people to renew their minds. This is important! I’m tired of seeing people stuck in mediocrity, complaining about their life but appearing to do nothing about it. Take the hard way of the Lord…
Paul talks about a living sacrifice in Rom. 12:1. We are not as familiar with sacrifices as first century people ~ an animal taking our place is burned on an alter to secure forgiveness or offer thanksgiving. Jesus is the final sacrifice, taking our place. Even though no literal animal sacrifice is ever needed again, the idea of our bodies, which I think means everything we are, is to be given to God for his sake. READ Rom. 12:1. My life is not my own, I give my life to the Lord. I am a living sacrifice. Sacrifice means: To Make Holy. We wrongly define sacrifice as giving up completely, such as my money ~ that may happen if that is what God wants, but the real meaning is to set something apart for God. Take my house... If I sacrifice my house, I am saying “Lord, it is yours to do as you will.” I may occupy it, but it is sacrificed, it now belongs to God. My body, everything about me, is now God’s! We need to move ourselves off the throne of the universe and put Him at the Center.
READ Rom. 12:2. We wrestle with understanding God’s Will… God’s will is usually thought of in terms of what does God WANT us to do ~ who should we marry? where should we move? school? Job? Should I take on this responsibility or that task? That is part of it, but God’s will is better thought of as HOW we are to live. READ Micah 6:8// A pastor friend once told me in speaking of difficult marriages that God’s will is that you are married to whoever you are married to. That makes perfect sense if you understand God’s will is foremost defined by our attitude. If you think God’s will is primarily about what he wants us to do, the decisions we make, you will miss God’s desire for our hearts, our minds, our walk with him…
If we are honoring God and living with the peace that only he can provide, that is living in God’s will. A renewed mind and God’s will are intertwined in Rom. 12:2. A loving parent cares less about what their children do after they leave home and more about their character. Who they are is more important than what they do. As our minds are renewed in the Christ Jesus way, then what we do is not as important as who we are in Christ…
This does not mean there is a license to do anything and declare if we feel good about it it is God’s will. E.g. disobeying any of the ten commandments is not God’s will ~ no other gods, no idols, no abuse of God’s name, remember the Sabbath, honor your parents, do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie, do not be jealous (Ex. 20:2-17). Sin is never God’s will. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” ~ there are guidelines of right and wrong. God wants us to honor our word, make full commitments instead of half commitments the world is so fond of making ~ many more guidelines of obedience…you can attempt to follow the will of God according to the Book/a set of rules, that’s a beginning,…but what God really wants is our heart to be conformed to his heart, our mind transformed to desire what he desires, his ways be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
Living as fully committed Christians who sacrifice self desires and live for God, is what God desires above all else, people who live not as the world lives, but with renewed minds. The way of the world is the easy way ~ we are called to take the harder way of following God. The famous quote by John Lennon is scratching at the truth: “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
What is God’s will? A transformed mind, not thinking as the world thinks, but thinking, feeling, the way God wants us to think. READ Rom. 12:2. Happiness is not my answer for what God wants, unless by happiness you mean godly contentment, a peace beyond understanding…using the word describing God’s ways in Rom. 12:1, we are to be adopt mercy as the way… to deeply care about others and treat them in ways they do not deserve. Mercy is to offer kindness to people who are wounded/hurting. This is what God has done for us in our sins ~ we are called to be people of mercy: this is God’s will…. We cannot fail in doing God’s will if our minds are so focused on him that we are living sacrifices devoted to God. One of my favorite professors, Dr. Colin Brown, was asked what he would be doing if he weren’t teaching at Fuller Seminary. I’d probably be a janitor, he said. He was not demeaning janitors, he was simply saying that whatever we do, it’s character that matters ~ Janitor, world renown theology professor, no difference… our character is far more important than what we do…
Do not conform to the pattern of this world…. Live for Christ and stand up against this world’s dead-end temptations! The pull of this old world is tempting. I like what the KFC guy, Colonel Sanders had to say about how to succeed. He calls it “The Hard Way”:
It is comparatively easy to prosper by trickery, the violation of confidence, oppression of the weak, sharp practices, cutting corners …It is difficult to prosper by the keeping of promises, the delivery of value in goods and services, honorable deeds….
The easy way is slippery and quick – the hard way is arduous and long. But, as the clock ticks, the easy way becomes harder and the hard way becomes easier. And as the calendar records the weeks, months and years, it becomes increasingly evident that the easy way rests hazardously upon shifting sands, whereas the hard way builds solidly a foundation of confidence and trust that cannot be swept away…
Rom. 12:2 says “test” God’s will. “prove,” “discern,” Rom. 12:2 is not about “discovering” God’s will as much as it is “proving” God’s will is always good, acceptable and perfect. If your mind is rewired to live for Christ, whatever shape your life takes is God honoring. When I was a young pastor in Pasadena an old time AC Pastor said to me, “I’ve always been a little bit mad at your dad, he is so talented, so much to offer, and he has spent a lifetime in Sumas, that little burr of a town. What a waste!” ~~~~ My father is my hero because he was a man at peace with God. Everything about him breathed he was in God’s will in Sumas, WA. And if he would have been called to the U.S. Senate as a chaplain, called to preach to the penguins of Antarctica, a janitor or even a lowly bus driver, he would have been a man doing God’s will because that is where his mind was….A renewed mind, a living sacrifice, is more significant than the what we do…
When we get caught up trying to figure out God’s will, what does he want me to do? change focus and instead ask the Lord to renew your mind. Peace. Then as you live life in the world, test God’s will. Three words are used to describe the “will of God.”
God’s will is good. That means that doing things God’s way will always prove to be for our ultimate benefit. God’s will, his way, his path are always good for us. The way of the world is the easy way. The way of God is the harder way. But in time, as the clock ticks, we come to realize that God’s way is always good.
God’s will is acceptable. ~ pleasing to God. It means to live in such a way that God says at the end, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But it also means that living God’s way is pleasing/satisfying to us personally. Not easy, because carrying a cross is not an easy thing to do. But in the end, those who live for Christ will be happier than those who don’t. It’s really as simple as that. If you have the peace of Christ you will be far more flexible in responding positively to different situations. I read once that if you want to test a man’s character, give him a responsibility/ power, then take it away. If you are living for Christ, putting Christ on the throne of the universe instead of you, whether he gives you little or much, gives or takes away, it is all to his glory and it is good. The crumb’s from God’s banquet table is good and acceptable if the Lord is at the center.
God’s will is perfect. ~ complete or whole. If you live for God, you will come to the end of your life satisfied. You will need no more. Your bucket list will be complete!
If you live for the world, you will have the world’s reward, which will satisfy you for only a short time. If you live for God, you will demonstrate to yourself and those who know you that God’s way is always good, pleasing and perfect.
The way of the world often seems much more exciting than the way of the Lord. As one person said, “We hear the call of the wild and we think, “I’m tired of living by the Book. I’m going to throw off my restraints and have a good time.” And like the Prodigal Son, we have a blast while our money lasts. Only at the end do we end up eating with the pigs.” The easy way of the world becomes harder and harder to find satisfaction. I see it with addictions that are so much fun in the beginning, but in the end the addictions enslave you.
God’s way is slower and often harder. But, as the clock ticks, the easy way becomes harder and the hard way becomes easier. We must strive every day to prove to ourselves and to others that God’s way is best. I think this is why Rom. 12:2 uses the word “test.” It will not be easy at first. When you take the easy way of the world, it turns out hard in the long view, but when you take the hard path of following God’s will, it always ultimately turns out to be the only easy way there is.
We must all learn this lesson for ourselves. I can preach it, I can scold people. I can even tell you of my own experience, which might encourage you, but still you must prove this truth in your own life. The words of Rom. 12:1-2 are directed at each one of us to make that personal decision: the hard way of making a commitment to the Lord. To know the will of God is to take your ordinary life, place it before God as an offering, and God will bring you the best he has for you. He will be pleased and it will be proven to you everyday that whatever happens, your ordinary life will be extraordinary because whatever you do will be good, pleasing and perfect. Amen.
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