Morning Devotionals

by Don Emmitte

 

April 16th, 2008

 

"We Need a Change"

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:1-8 NIV).

This may be the year of change if we believe the candidates who are touting their ability to bring change to our nation and world. Don’t misunderstand me. This devotional today will NOT be a political statement of any kind. However, as there is so much talk about our world needing a change, I thought I would go to the Scripture to bring us to the truth about change. The Apostle Paul does say in our reading today that we need to change (transform). The way to change is not through any change in government strategy though. It can only be accomplished by “the renewing of our mind.”

There was a mailman, John Hand, who rode his mail truck through Los Altos Hills of California on his 50 mile route each day. The route was plain, all brown and virtually no color. One day he began to throw wild flower seeds out of the window as he drove. Today, if you travel his route in the Los Altos Hills you’ll find beautiful patches of flowers throughout, blossoming in many colors. We all travel different roads. Sadly, many of us miss wonderful opportunities to change and bring added beauty to our landscapes. In our families, at our jobs, in the world around us, God has given us opportunities to color those landscapes! It’s far easier for us to complain and resign ourselves to settling for those landscapes, than it is to be the catalysts of change. That certainly is the reference to the many gifts we have been given within the body of Christ. By using them, we can “color our landscape” with the dazzling beauty of God’s purpose.

Today, let’s resolve to stop complaining about the lifelessness around us and do something about it! God has given us the power and anointing to change those landscapes! Let’s start sowing the seeds of the grace, mercy, service, salvation and new life. Let’s sow the seeds of love, joy, righteousness and all the tasty fruits of the Spirit. As we sow them throughout our daily lives, those dull, dry landscapes will begin blossom into something beautiful!