Romans 12
Rebecca Lightfoot
After several chapters of Romans telling about the Holiness&Righteousness of God,HIS Sovereignty....,& how God PERSONALLY enables us to be cleansed from all unrighteousness and be welcomed into a personal relationship with HIM...,n Romans12:1-2,Paul tells us how we protect and nurture a living relationship with GOD->”Therfore, 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 act of worship.Do 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.”Paul is telling us that there is a battle for our bodies and our minds,raging to veer us away from a real and vibrant relationship with Almighty God.A relationship that is near the Heart of God...,near enough to know His Heart/His good,pleasing,and perfect will!If we do not take Paul’s advice,we will not know God’s Heart,& become confused...ultimately becoming fools about life,it’s meaning&purposes(Proverbs1:7 says,”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge(an awesome Respect for God and His Word is the beginning of the pursuit of TRUTH about all things),but fools despise wisdom and discipline”.).The first thing Paul urges us to is the discipline of our bodies->applying what God says are the important disciplines for a healthy overall life(physically;emotionally;cerebrally;spiritually) as He plainly lays out for us throughout His Word and the life of Christ.This is where the second part comes into play!For without this second part,there is no way that we will be victorious in the first aspect of the battle for us to have a personal relationship with The Lord!Paul says that we must recognize that there is a battle for ABSOLUTE TRUTH,in what we think;the patterns of how we reason;what we allow into our imaginations,etc.Paul says we must be deliberate in how we battle this front,&be aggressive in transforming our minds away from things that are NOT TRUE by seeking to learn and know TRUTH in and about all things!As Proverbs1 above teaches->an awesome Respect/Reverence for God and His Word is the beginning of the pursuit of TRUTH about all things!If we do not accept this as TRUE,we become fools that despise wisdom.AND then,even if we do accept this as TRUE and do not assimilate God’s TRUTHS into our lives by applying what we accept/believe as TRUE,then we also become fools that despise wisdom!Paul is saying that even if we are diligent in our study of the Bible,and we learn all the details of the Bible that enable us to ACE a “Bible Test”,& yet do not seek to know the life changing impact of God’s Word in our lives/hearts...then we also choose a path of becoming fools that despise wisdom.We come back to the equation of Wisdom-> Knowledge + Application = Wisdom! Which reveals that, Knowledge - Application = FOOL; AND, Application - Knowledge = FOOL!A way that Satan and his minions have proven successful in still making us fools,even when we apply the first equation in our life,is by contaminating TRUE KNOWLEDGE,with anything that is UNtrue.Paul knew that our knowledge will be contaminated,& that the enemy will continue his efforts to contaminate TRUTH w lies.This is why Paul says,”but be transformed by the RENEWING(continual process)of your mind”,referring to our need to regularly have our minds challenged by seeking to know God’s Word&His Ways....,then back to APPLYING what we learn into our lives-weaving God’s Word&Ways into the fabric of our lives.Dear Lord,I am so guilty of fouling up the equation for True Wisdom...,by either letting lies slip into my thinking,or by skipping over the life changing impact You intend for Your TRUTHS to have for me.Forgive me... Help me to know the Presence of Your Spirit that desires to inspire and encourage me to have the TRUTHS of Romans12:1-2 bless and change my life for Your Loving Purposes in and through my life.