Everybody’s Changing
Opening Prayer
Lord, I pray now as did the boy Samuel, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening” (1 Sam. 3:10).
Read ROMANS 12:1-8
[1] Therefore, 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. [2] 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. [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 measure of faith God has given you. [4] Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. [6] We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. [7] If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; [8] if 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. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What admonitions does Paul give here?Fact: the place where you laid your head last night was not the same place where you woke up this morning. Overnight our planet traveled tens of thousands of miles through space around the sun. So although everything looks familiar, yesterday’s “here” is now not “here” at all. Our bodies, too, are in a permanent state of change—every single cell is replaced over a period of seven years. Which means that not one part of you now was there seven years ago.
The essence of life is constant change, and we are changing—whether we’re choosing the direction of that change or not. The question isn’t whether we are going to be transformed, or not. We will be—either in the pattern of the world or in the likeness of Christ (2).
But even as we grow together in Christ-likeness, that will produce glorious diversity. Change won’t look exactly the same for any of us. We are all given different gifts and talents, and called to perform different tasks (3,6). We can offer our different gifts to each other for the common good.
Apply
What will you do with your remaining life in this world? What does the grace of God working in your life produce?
Closing prayer
Gracious Lord, may Your grace continue to work in me so that my life can make a difference for You.
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