Did you realize that God can use
your ordinary life to do extraordinary things in His service? Romans 12 (MSG)
says you are just what your heavenly Father is looking for:
1-2 So
here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary
life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it
before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you
can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into
it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed
from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly
respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its
level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed
maturity in you.
3 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God
has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you.
Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you
not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God.
No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is
by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do
for him.
4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body.
Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around.
The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us
finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off
finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find
ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously
functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were
made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each
other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if
you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if
you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re
put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress,
keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the
disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them.
Keep a smile on your face.
9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for
dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love
deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert
servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray
all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with
your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along
with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the
great somebody.
17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got
it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not
for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”
20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go
buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity
will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the
best of evil by doing good.
“Don't try to force anything.
Let life be a deep let-go. See God opening millions of flowers every day
without forcing the buds.”(Rajneesh)[i]
[i] Inspired by the sermon “Your Everyday Ordinary Life, “Sunday August 4, 2019, Pastor Don Poest, CenterPoint
Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH.
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