Day 33: Get it Back!

the good old days

Today I went out to lunch with some co-workers, and we were looking at photos of an old corporate holiday party. And we were saying things like: "those were the days!" and "that was the best party!" And it seems completely true. That particular holiday party was the first party I'd gone to with my new company. It was my first time really kicking it dance-party style with all my new DC friends, and it is truly a grand memory. But there's no going back. I can't renew Holiday Party 2009.

 Then I thought about something else that I loved from the past. Maybe I'm a  huge nerd.

 But...LOST! That was, in my opinion (and in fact), the best television show ever. Every episode was full of pure intrigue. At one point, I watched some of it again and realized that I had missed things. It was still good! And my fanaticism was renewed. I can still debate some of the finer points of that finale with anyone who won't just walk away from me.

I <3 Sawyer

I'm a fan of the word "renew" which means: 

• to make fresh or strong again
• to begin again, especially with more force or enthusiasm 

I like to think that everything can be renewed. But it really can't. Like a re-upholstered chair. Is that old? Is it new? Is it renewed? In the natural world, once old...it's likely always old. But emotionally and spiritually, things can get renewed over and over again. 

Some things (even things you don't want) you can get back, and some things you can't. Today's scripture is super common. So, I wanted to come at it from a slightly different angle:  

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 

This scripture starts with the word "Therefore" which means that the following request is based on prior information. The prior information is not actually just in the last two verses of Romans chapter 11. It's more like the entire preceding 11 chapters. Since this is a letter, and not a "book" it's being written all at once, and read all at once. And so prior in the letter, Paul had talked about a few key things that I will briefly recap: 

1. We were doomed. Romans 3:11-20 talks about how the whole wide world is guilty of sin. That no one is good. That no one even is looking for God. Doomed.  
   
2. Despite being guilty, through faith in Christ, we could be justified and suddenly not doomed. Romans 5:1-8 explains how happy we are (it says we "exult") to have peace with God through Christ. 
   
3. But even though we're happy, and justified...we still do bad stuff (Romans 7:21-25) and we sometimes feel like we're messing it all up. Like we're ruining this thing that Jesus did in #2, plunging ourselves back into #1, but... 
4. We're wrong about that! We can't mess it up as long as we are believing and trusting in Christ, because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).   

 And that (give or take a bunch of chapters) is what leads us to "therefore" and my commentary of what you can and what you can't get back.  

Present Your Body a Living Sacrifice


This may or may not be true, but I'm going to take a commentator's word for what this command is reminiscent of. Supposedly this command is a parallel to the command for the "whole burnt offering" that Jews had to give in the Old Testament (see Leviticus 1; Leviticus 6:8-13). The thing about the whole burnt offering, is that it completely burned up. In some offerings, there were like leftovers. There was a piece that the priest could keep. Or maybe you only brought part of something to offer on the altar. But the whole burnt offering was just that: whole. It was everything...and it burned completely. It burned all night. There was nothing left. It was consumed.

That's what is in view when we are urged to present our own bodies as a living sacrifice. It makes the choice to follow Christ seem weightier doesn't it when you think of it like that? You're giving everything up to God.

And...you can't get it back.

Do not be Conformed, but Be Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind

Again, we see "the world" that we talked about in previous blogs; which is "human culture as influenced by Satan."  We live in this world. We don't go untouched by it at all. And so Paul tells us to avoid the same old, same old. We were already old. We thought like the old world system. We talked like the old world system. And once you've presented your life to God, it's like...you can't stay in that old mold.  But rather, we have to be transformed, by what? The renewing of our mind. Our minds were made new the minute we heard the gospel. A new mind and a regenerated heart. If you only heart it once, you'd start to show signs of serious wear and tear. You'd get old. But we have to keep hearing, keep praying, keep seeking, keep renewing our mind with the gospel, and it becomes like a fount of water in your heart: 

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.

 - John 7:38

 In short, all that joy and peace you felt the first day you believed....

You can get it back.