This past Sunday, we started the series Margin. Let me just tell you that this series is already kicking my butt…IT IS ONLY WEEK ONE!
Craig used Romans 12:2 as one of the passages on Sunday, and this verse has stuck out and been on my mind all week. Romans 12:2 says, “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.” Do not conform…be transformed. Am I conforming? Am I allowing transformation to take place? Or, am I hindering it?
The past couple of weeks I have been studying a few of the kings mentioned in the Old Testament. There are two that stand out to me and their stories have helped me process the idea of creating Margin in my life. King Ahaz and King Hezekiah were kings of the Nation of Israel. King Ahaz was not a good king. King Ahaz’s story: knew God…forgot about God…started building idols to other gods…defiled the temple…was influenced by pagan people…left the nation of Israel in pretty bad shape. God’s response to this in Isaiah 7 was, “ If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” God offered King Ahaz the opportunity to ask God for help and King Ahaz didn’t take it. He was captive to his sin. Flash forward…King Ahaz dies and his son Hezekiah becomes king. The Bible says that King Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He recognized that his people (and his father) had been unfaithful to the Lord. King Hezekiah worked to make a covenant with God. They worked to purify themselves and to make things right. He allowed God to transform his kingdom and his life.
If you keep reading about Hezekiah you see that he slips up. The bible refers to the nation of Israel as His chosen people. All through the Bible we see that they were chosen to experience the blessing and the fullest life that God had laid out for them. Interesting enough though, when you read the Old Testament you see over and over about how God’s people resisted God’s blessing and seemed to forget about this beautiful covenant relationship with God. God proved Himself faithful over and over. He never left Israel…they seemed to forget about Him. The Old Testament is a roller coaster of conformity and transformation, much like our lives. God has offered us this rich blessing but we get caught up…we get distracted…we get disconnected. One king conformed and the other allowed himself to be transformed. If I examine my life, the margin in my life, am I more like King Ahaz or King Hezekiah?
Romans 12: 1-2, “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. “
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