Scripture: 

“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.

 

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” Romans 12:1-3 (MSG)

 

Perspective: 

As Paul was writing to the church in Rome, he previously reminded them of the generosity that God had extended to them through Jesus. In response to that generosity, Paul urged the people to take their everyday moments and use them for God’s glory. It would require them to be attentive to what God was doing. In offering their lives, it would require them to give up their normal way of living for only themselves. God, who started the work, would work His power deep in their hearts. Through fixing their eyes on Jesus, it would change their perspective. Ordinary tasks would no longer be something to just get finished. God would help them see the opportunities in everything as they would give it back to God. This perspective would counter culture’s perspective that life is just about them. The people would begin to realize more clearly that God was not distant but involved in their here and now. When life is lived with this perspective, it changes the ordinary into something more.

 

Yet, the everyday, ordinary moments can seem so ordinary. There is not necessarily fanfare and excitement; sometimes it is even long and grueling. So, we can want to wait for the big moments to honor God. In the big moments, we can also desire the applause that comes from others in a moment where we achieve or accomplish something that we value. Yet, that is not the secret to a life of faith. When we take our ordinary lives and don’t wait for an extraordinary moment, we will find that God is present in our now. He is walking with us through the mundane as much as He is walking with us on the mountaintop. He begins to do the deep work of refining our character through laundry that needs to be finished, kids that need to be dropped off at school, and work that needs to be completed. When we take these simple moments and turn our attention to God, we experience His grace and freedom in a new way. We begin to realize that life is truly lived in these moments. When we have an understanding of this truth, we live like it all matters, because it does. The conversation with your neighbor as you check your mail matters. The unexpected meeting at the grocery store with an old friend matters. Life is not lived on the mountaintop. If you are waiting for a big moment that will catapult you into the next big thing, look around and see all the opportunities God is giving you today. Take those opportunities, be obedient, and the life you are living today will begin to be transformed. It’s never about impressing God with our accomplishments but rather celebrating what He has already done for us. It enables us to take the ordinary, mundane moments of our days and allow God to move in our lives. You don’t have to go somewhere else to find God. He is right there, walking with you through the simple moments of your day. When we take hold of this truth, we find that the best place to outwork God’s call in our lives is in the here and now, no matter where that may be. 

 
Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.  Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. 

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About Hona Amer

I help people live life to the fullest. Check out my book, Smart Work U. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. In order to receive updates, subscribe below.

 

 

 

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