May 20

Romans 12:1-2
Memorise Proverbs 1:8
“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother”

We have come a long way, in learning how to interpret the Bible. But I fear that we may lose sight of the ultimate purpose of doing all these all to the glory of God. We must apply all the lessons from the Bible to ourselves, otherwise we might as well go and play ball! One of the most dangerous things we can do is to interpret a passage perfectly, draw out all the right lessons – and then think to ourselves, “so-and-so really needs to learn this lesson!”

As we read, meditate and understand God’s Word, as we humble ourselves and yield to the instructions within, what happens is that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That is what the Bible can do to you! If we read it seriously, and constantly ask what lessons are to be had, and sincerely try to live by it, our thoughts will be refreshed by the teachings in God’s Words; our lives will be transformed, conformed to the image of Christ and not the world. The result of this would be a life that is good and acceptable in the sight of God! Now don’t we all want this to happen in our lives?

Some teens dye their hair and think that they are non-conformists! Yes, to an extent that’s true – but that applies only to their external appearance. What about the “internals”? Here – true Christian are the true non-conformists. We don’t rebel for the sake of rebellion, but we don’t conform to the world – why? - because we want to conform to the God who loves us! – and be transformed “internally” by the renewing of our minds – that’s what matters, not the externals!

Why do we want to do this? Because we love Him, who first loved us. We want to please Him, and so we want to know His will (which is “good, and acceptable and perfect”). That takes a lifetime – because our minds, our emotions, and our wills have all been corrupted as part of the Fall, and it takes more than a lifetime (and beyond) to fully conform ourselves to His image.

But we want to start now, and grow more and more Christ-like each day – we can start practically by reading, understanding and obeying His word daily! What an exciting journey!

Thought: Jesus said, “if ye love me, keep my commandments”.
Prayer: Lord, help me to let Thy Word be so much a part of me that I will love what You love, and do what You want me to do.