Grow Up

It is Sunday night. I'm tired, but my mind is still churning on some thoughts from this morning. I'm still pondering that radical posting of the Apostle Paul when he said, "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."

Paul then continues in this radical challenge, "Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him." Why in the world? What is there about this that is the best thing for us?

Well, Paul goes on to say, "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You will 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, developing well-formed maturity in you." Honest...I found this in the Message Bible, Romans 12:1-2.

Wow...He is looking for maturity. He wants us to grow up. What a concept. Instead of looking like the immature culture around us, let's take a little courage (ok, a whole lot of courage) and allow Him to change us on the inside. That's where the decisions are made anyway. So as we are changed, we can respond to Him in positive ways.

What is that response? Here's the response that Chuck Swindoll wrote years ago, and I shared them with our church this morning...

"Lord...in this body there are certain drives and many desires. In my eyes, there are interests that are not from You. In these ears of mine, and in these hands, and in various parts of my body, there are things that are attracted, like a magnet, to the world system. Therefore, I deliberately and willingly give You my eyes...my ears...all of my senses...my thought processes...I give them to You as an act of worship. I am Yours, Lord. Please take control of each one of these areas."

What a prayer! What a confession! I deliberately choose to follow Him, to submit myself to Him...as an act of worship.

Seems to me that when we make the choice that our entire life is submitted to Him, then we are allowing Him to come help us grow up, to become mature. Really, I don't care how fast you are growing, I just want to see some movement, some growth. So come on, grow up...at your own pace, of course. Besides, it is about the best thing you can do for yourself. Courage, my friend, courage!