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.
I have had this plaque hanging nearby for the last seven years. I have thought about this verse and the preceding verse on numerous occasions. Eugene Peterson offers this transliteration of Romans 12:1-2 in The Message:
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.
Three Sundays ago, I departed from home for my normal weekly long run. The long run is a time when many thoughts circulate around in my mind. The thoughts often become a jumbled mess with no clear direction or focus. However, as I set out on a chilly run, my thoughts went to a friend experiencing a challenging situation. I found myself asking, "What can I do to help him?" I was a bit surprised to actually hear a response to my question.
The response:
"Pray."
So I prayed:
"Strengthen him.
Encourage him.
Give him peace."
As the miles continued to pass and my mind began to wander, I returned to these three requests and just kept repeating them. Gradually, the run turned into something more. It transformed from a run into a mission. It transformed from my normal, ordinary run into something extraordinary. It transformed the coldness and the fatigue into a gift. Running became an opportunity to surrender the body to God's business.
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