ROMANS 12:2.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

TO PONDER:

As I prepared to go through security at the airport last week, it struck me again how conformity is such a powerful force in our lives. Those simple barriers that funnel us down a certain path, snaking back and forth until we get to the front of the line where we are then directed to one of the security scanning lines. Conformity is easy. It requires little effort. All you need to do is follow the path where it leads. It happened at the Tennis and the standing for the National anthem. It happens when we join the line at the checkout in any store. It happens as we follow local customs in countries that we visit in order to fit in. Conformity is easy. Every day the culture in which we live has an impact on us. It subtly squeezes us into its mold of living, thinking, acting.

Paul says, as people who are alive in the Spirit, as people who have received the mercy of God, we are called to live a reimagined life. To daily walk in newness of life. When Paul says, be transformed, he is saying, 'let God continue to transform you'. Let God continue to shape you and mold you. It's not a once off thing. It's a daily occurrence. 

Let God shape you in the decisions you make today. Let God's will form you in the actions that you take today. Let God's heart inspire and motivate what you do today. That's hard work. It requires effort. And it always involves radical change. It's walking up the escalator when everyone else is going down. It's being prepared to take a stand for truth, when everyone else has subscribed to Groupthink. It's consciously choosing to see the world through God's eyes. And when we do that Paul says, we will find ourselves being changed by that, we will start living reimagined lives that will begin to impact the world and culture in which we live, move and have our being.

PRAYER:

Lord God, transform my thinking and my actions today, that in everything I am and do, I may consciously choose to live the reimagined life you have graciously given to me. Amen.