BIAY - Life of worship
Romans 12-13, Proverbs 22:1-16
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Romans 12 is a gem of a chapter. There are plenty of great verses and lines throughout as it transitions from Christian belief (chs 1-11) to Christian behavior (ch 12-15). That’s a simplified outline, but useful.
Living sacrifice (12:1-2) - Many of the verses in chapter 12 are worth memorizing today, but I’ll settle for encouraging you to memorize verses 1-2, then add others to that if you like. The image of offering ourselves on the altar as a “living sacrifice” of worship to God is powerful and a great way to frame the daily Christian life. Paul’s ethical instruction later in the chapter gives practical examples of what offering ourselves to God as an lifestyle of worship looks like. The second verse is also vital and emphasizes the importance of renewing our minds in life transformation. As we do that, through studying the Bible and applying God’s Word to our lives, we are better able to be conformed to the image of Christ and not to “the pattern of this world.”
Renewed living (12:9-21) - A renewed mind leads to a renewed life and Paul has plenty of indicators of a renewed life that is conformed to Christ over the world. They’re all good, so I’ll just list of few of my favorites I’m underlining.
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (12:10)
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (12:12)
“'If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (12:18)
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (12:21)
Questions:
Looking at verses 9-21 as ways to be conformed to Christ, how do the opposites of these instructions illustrate being conformed to the world?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me to offer myself to you as an act of worship daily. Renew my mind and help me live for you today. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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Words to live by
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