Ruminations and Ramifications

More than words on a page

I think I've spent more than my fair share of time wondering what "God's will" is for my life. This has included a myriad decisions and situations. And everyone I've consulted in this quest has only pointed me to one source: the Bible. Now, admittedly this has frustrated me more than anything because the answers I was looking for were not IN the Bible. I flipped through Job and still couldn't figure out where I should work. Song of Solomon didn't tell me who I should date. I'm sure I'm not the only one trying to gain some sort of clarification through God's Word.

What happened wasn't a resignation to "fate", but a realignment of what my definition of "God's will" is. And as it turns out, it's not what I thought it was at all.

Romans 12 is a wellspring of information about how to discern God's will in our lives.

Romans 12

Living Sacrifices
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do 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.
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[b]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Remember the conditional logic of a previous post? First, let's look at the opening paragraph. The antecedent here consists of several things. First, consider God's mercy. And I mean really consider it. Do any of us really deserve it? Is mercy ever really even deserved? I think that's the point of mercy: to give good when good is not deserved.

Now that we've considered God's mercy, perhaps we should think of what we can give back to God. Paul writes that we should give our entire bodies to Him, as a living sacrifice. This doesn't mean shutting down in a servile depression, rolling over into the fetal position, a helpless ball. This sacrifice is LIVING. It is the little things we do that are to be the sacrifices we make. Why? Because of God's mercy to us, not because anyone deserves it, or because we're feeling particularly generous that day. The only One with the right to choose to be merciful is the Lord Himself (Romans 9:15-16). That's right. We DON'T have a choice.

Let me repeat that.

We DON'T have a choice whether to be merciful or not. We simply must be.

Continuing on, Paul urges his readers to not conform (this sounds active to me, as if we are purposely doing this) any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed (this sounds like a passive response to an outside influence, to allow something to happen rather than cause it on our own) by the renewing of your mind. Praise the Lord that He Himself will come in and do the work for us, if we submit to Him!! If we allow ourselves to be transformed. I can attest, it is such an act of death in order to gain. Mark 8:36 asks us what we profit if we gain the world, but lose our very self? Our own soul? It is so tempting to want to gain the world, because it's what we SEE!!! We can't "see" God. But if we TRUST Him to bless us and watch over us, we can more easily forfeit the things of this world, to gain our own soul. To get our life back!! I don't know about you, but there are some days I try so hard, striving for the things of this world, and all I really want in the end is to have my life back.

Now, here comes the consequent of the conditional logic statement in this paragraph, and the focal point of this piece here. Paul says that upon letting ourselves be transformed, THEN we will know what the will of God is. We will be able to test and approve His will. This sounds to me like we will be given some sort of "insider" knowledge if we go all the way to "approval" level. Furthermore, this sounds way more assured than merely "not knowing God's will for my life". The two concepts seem so contradictory. One seems secure, the other seems out of control and fearful.

So how do we do this? Where's's the practical application that will lead us to full knowledge of God's will? I thought you'd never ask....

Verses 3 through 21, the rest of the chapter, explain fully what God's will is for our lives. No, you won't find the "Magic 8-Ball" answer in here for any big decisions you have. And I'm sorry if that's what you were looking for, but that isn't how God defines His good, pleasing, and perfect will for our lives. Just look at what Jesus has to say about it. In Matthew 6 He says to seek FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness. Everything else He spoke of earlier in the chapter (about food, clothes, possessions, money, activities) will be added unto us. God is not so far beyond our economy or your social circle to leave us hanging if we choose to abandon our own self-fulfillment to pursue His kingdom. I think we forget that.

So what is God's will? What does the pursuit of His kingdom involve? Let me list out a few from Romans 12:3-21:

• Don't think of ourselves more highly than we ought,
• Behave as memberor of one body, concerned about the welfare of all the parts, and uplifting the individual abilities of all the parts
• Love sincerely
• Hate what is evil
• Cling to what is good
• Be devoted to one another in brotherly love
• Honor one another above yourselves
• Keep spiritually fervent!!!
• Be joyful in hope
• Be patient in affliction
• Be faithful in prayer
• Be generous
• Practice hospitality
• Bless those who persecute you
• Don't curse anyone
• Rejoice with those who rejoice! Mourn with those who mourn!!
• Live in harmony with each other
• Don't be proud or conceited, but be willing to associate with anyone of ANY position in life.
• Don't repay evil for evil
• Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody
• Live at peace with everyone (as far as it depends on you)
• Don't take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath.
• Feed and give drink to our enemies
• Don't be overcome (this sounds like passive acceptance) by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Okay, everyone, here's the short list. *grin*

Can I just point out one more thing before I sign off?

Romans 12:5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

So each member belongs to all the others, right? The way a wife belongs to a husband and a husband to a wife? And should be treated as a wife would want to be treated by a husband, and a husband by a wife? As Christ loved the church? We all belong to each other?

Wow.

Labels: God's Word, lists, practical theology

posted by Marcian @ 12:44 PM