“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” – Rom.12:1-2
Being pilgrims and strangers in this world we can’t feel at home. We are homesick for heaven.
Being servants in a hostile environment tends to make us angry.
Being lovers of God we naturally hate sin. We have experienced and observed what it does to people.
And being disciples of Christ we are concerned about people, but we are sickened by the world’s attitude toward God, whom we love.
But it does no good to continually bash others about their faults and badger them about getting their act together. The unsaved person behaves according to his nature which is sinful. And neither instruction, nor rebuke can change that. He needs the gospel.
The point is, it’s easy to see what’s wrong with the world and to express how you feel about it. I am sick of religion, politics, Hollywood, etc. I could rant for hours about the evils associated with those things and denounce everything that is opposed to God, yet when all is said and done, “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” ( 2 Tim. 3:13). That is disappointing and can be depressing. But there is something that troubles me even more. Something I can do something about.
Most of all I am sick about my own personal failures. It is easy to see what’s wrong with the world and it’s tempting to devote all my time to denouncing it and to tying to fix it, but nothing would change for the better. If all I do is to denounce the world I will miss the mark. What I need to do is to focus on what’s wrong with me and there is much to be said about that. That’s the only part of the world that I can change by my direct action. And it should be the starting point for each of us. My best chance to see others change is for others to see how Christ changed me. For that to happen I must first surrender myself, as a living sacrifice unto God. I must speak the truth in love while being an example of the believers. Through our witness and our ways we can bring others to Christ, and that changes them forever. – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
