Sweet Sisters,
Have you ever wondered, “What does God really want from me?”
Since the beginning of time, people have seemed to have had an innate desire to please a higher power. They have defined this higher power in many ways. Sometimes they have visualized an animal or a particular mountain as a god. They formed out of wood, clay, or gold what they thought their god might look like. Whatever image they chose, they were always anxious to please their god. It seems that since the beginning of time people have also seemed to feel unworthy and inadequate. The gods they chose to please never loved them or cared about them. What they demanded in exchange for their favor and help was often difficult and required pain and suffering.
In Micah 6:6-7, this same subject is addressed. The writer asks:
6 With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
In verse 8 we find a very simple answer.
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The one True God that created the heaven and the earth and formed us, doesn’t require from us impossible feats that require pain and suffering. What He requires is that we love Him and love people.
In Romans 12 we once again visit this idea. The first word in Romans 12 is “Therefore”. Whenever you see the word “therefore” you should find out what for is the “therefore” there for? The answer is found in Romans 11:33-36:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
Because of how great our God is, we should “therefore” do what? (Romans 12:1)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
The first thing we do is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. The second thing we do is to change our way of thinking so that we know what pleases God (Romans 12:2):
Do not conform 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.
If we want to please the God we serve, we have to give ourselves totally to Him. Paul discussed this concept earlier in Romans 6:22-23.
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When we become slaves to God, it separates us from the people of the world (makes us holy) and it guarantees us eternal life.
As slaves to God, what does He expect from us? Is this where we start walking on nails or offering our first born child as a human sacrifice?
No! What God wants from us as His slave is found in the following verse of Romans 12.
3 For 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 faith God has distributed
to each of you.
The first thing we need to do is to get a grip on just how important we think we are. Sweet Sisters, this does not mean we become a doormat to everyone around us. God loves you and gave His Son to ransom you from a life of sin and death. You are deeply loved and treasured by Him. What He wants is for you to trust Him to supply what you need and for you to focus on serving the needs of others. You can’t fake this!! Romans 12:9 says, “Love must be sincere.”
I like how Romans 12:9 – 21 reads in the Easy to Read Version. As you read these verses, make a list of all the ways Paul tells us we serve God and we serve others. Are there some that come easy to you? Are there some that are more challenging?
9 Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Do only what is good. 10 Love each other in a way that makes you feel close like brothers and sisters. And give each other more honor than you give yourself. 11 As you serve the Lord, work hard and don’t be lazy. Be excited about serving him!
12 Be happy because of the hope you have. Be patient when you have troubles. Pray all the time. 13 Share with God’s people who need help. Look for people who need help and welcome them into your homes.
14 Wish only good for those who treat you badly. Ask God to bless them, not curse them. 15 When others are happy, you should be happy with them. And when others are sad, you should be sad too. 16 Live together in peace with each other. Don’t be proud, but be willing to be friends with people who are not important to others. Don’t think of yourself as smarter than everyone else.
17 If someone does you wrong, don’t try to pay them back by hurting them. Try to do what everyone thinks is right.
18 Do the best you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 My friends, don’t try to punish anyone who does wrong to you. Wait for God to punish them with his anger. In the Scriptures the Lord says,
“I am the one who punishes;
I will pay people back.”
20 But you should do this:
“If you have enemies who are hungry,
give them something to eat.
If you have enemies who are thirsty,
give them something to drink.
In doing this you will make them feel ashamed.”
21 Don’t let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good.
Does verse 20 sound familiar to you? It is a quote from Proverbs 25:21-22:
21 If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat. If they are thirsty, give them some water. 22 This will make them feel the burning pain of shame, and the Lord will reward you for being good to them.
Luke 6:27 – 31 is also very similar:
27 “But I say to you people who are listening to me,
love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
28 Ask God to bless the people who ask for bad things to happen to you. Pray for the people who are mean to you. 29 If someone hits you on the side of your face, let them hit the other side too. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop them from taking your shirt too.
30 Give to everyone who asks you for something. When someone takes something that is yours, don’t ask for it back.
31 Do for others what you want them to do for you.
Paul ends this chapter with the challenge to not let evil overcome us but to overcome evil with good.
God has called us to be overcomers. No matter what the world or Satan may throw at you, respond with good.
In the end, good always wins!
So, what does God require from us? To give ourselves totally to Him as living sacrifices and to love and serve others.
Debbie