Romans 12:2 . ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’

 DAILY READING – – Mark 13:14-37; 1 Kings 7; Hosea 9:1-16

In every generation there are people who break free from accepted tradition and change the way we think and see things. Galileo Galilei was such a person.  He began his education in a monastery and would later attend the University of Pisa to study medicine in 1581. During the time of Galileo, there weren’t really “scientists” as we know them today. People studied the works of the classical philosophers and thinkers such as Aristotle and believed what they said to be mostly true without running experiments to verify or test out the ideas. Galileo, however, had different ideas. He wanted to test the principals and see if he could observe them in the real world. This was a new concept to the people of his time and laid the foundation for the scientific method.

For many hundreds of years, prior to then,  it had been generally accepted that the Earth was the centre of everything.  In 1609, Galileo built his own telescope and began to use it to view the planets. As Galileo studied the planets and the Sun, he became convinced that the Earth and the other planets orbited the Sun. Even though he was a devout Christian, the Catholic Church of that time considered Galileo’s ideas as heresy. At first they sentenced him to life in prison, but later allowed him to live at his home in Tuscany under house arrest, there he would eventually die. 300 years after his death, the Catholic Church that had punished him admitted that he was absolutely right and gave him a post humous pardon.

Galileo knew that his ideas would be strongly opposed, and he could have kept quiet and held back the inevitable procession of scientific knowledge, but instead he boldly spoke out and though he was persecuted then, today posterity had proved him right and he is celebrated.

As believers we must be willing to proclaim the truth we know. It may not make us popular, but we are called to walk the strait and narrow path. You weren’t born to become what others want you to be. Be different and make a difference. You will always have a choice in life. It’s the choice to accept the status quo, or to stand out; to be unique or to be just a part of a mass.

The decision between being different and following the masses is the decision between making a difference to the world or being like anyone else. You are born to be unique. You are born to follow the path set before you.

Romans 12:2 says ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’

We live in a society that wants us to conform, but we are called by Christ to be transformed, through the renewing of our mind.  It is easy to want to be like everyone else, However 1 Peter 2:9 – 10 tells us that we are different. it says  ‘But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special (peculiar) people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.’

He has called us out of this world (John 15:19). The purpose of His invitation is to make us different! We are set apart from other people in the world! Therefore decide not to compromise, decide to live out your faith.  Be uncommon. Live by a higher standard. People who have uncommon commitment, do the right thing even when it’s hard. And when you live an uncommon life, God rewards you with uncommon favor, uncommon strength, uncommon friendships and uncommon harvest.

PRAYER: Lord, please, grant me the courage and boldness to stand out in my generation and live a life that constantly glorifies  You. By Your Grace I will not conform to the world but will rather be continually transformed by Your Word in Jesus Name.

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When you obey God’s instruction you are delivered from destruction