Transformed

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. 

Watkins, James (2016-01-12). The Imitation of Christ: Classic Devotions in Today’s Language (Kindle Locations 237-238). Worthy Publishing. Kindle Edition.

This one sentence, pulled from Romans 12 is packed with truth.  Consider:

Copy cats.  We are pathetically unoriginal.  We copy the behavior and customs of this world. We talk like the folks on TV. We wear what the models wear. We buy what’s in. We love what’s trendy. 

Mirror minded.  Our attention is riveted on us. “It’s all about me.” We say with a smile, but with all seriousness. Our perceptions go no further than our physical reach. We don’t care enough about others to have any idea what they are going through or need.  We are so self-absorbed that we don’t hear what others are saying, instead looking for an opening to turn the conversation to the most important thing, us. 

Sayers not doers. We believe that what we say is more important than what we do. We profess our love but would not submit ourselves to a moment of inconvenience to put a smile on someone else. Suffering for others is way out of the question. We are willing to say “Have a good day” but are unwilling to lift a finger to make anyone’s day an iota better.  We will “pray about” anything but will do nothing. 

Stuck.  We are stuck in this pattern, unable to break out or change. We are suckers for diets, exercise gadgets, life coaches, gym memberships, motivational speakers, sermons, and miracle cures. We move from change agent to change agent, only moving and never-changing. 

Fearful. We don’t like who we are but are fearful of change. We are willing to be saved, but scared of being something new. We are horrified by our thought life, but mesmerized by the drama in our soap opera lives. 

We know the solution is in complete surrender to the King, but we like to drive. We are sometimes bold enough to ask the co-pilot to help, but never trusting enough to hand him the steering wheel.

The way we think has us in a death spiral. We’ve got to be willing to trust Him enough to put us in a life cycle. Unless we can become heavenly minded, we are forever earthly bound.