A Living Sacrifice
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.I am challenging myself this year to re-memorize these 2 verses and then to meditate on them when my mind wanders to fretting, worry, self-pity, revenge. Also instead of letting my mind roam to thoughts that aren't productive or dwell on fantasies, I want to come back to truth and I know these verses will help.
For my Bible reading this year I want to read Five Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs a day. By the end of the year I will have read through the Psalms and Proverbs twelve times. I won't be beating myself over the head if I miss the mark but I am looking forward to what I can learn this year from this concentrated reading. One of our pastors suggested this and shared that he got the idea from Billy Graham.
Have you chosen a verse or verses to meditate on in 2014?
Please share in the comments.
Thanks for sharing, Ellen! I think memorizing scripture is so important, a treasure that's always there whenever we need it. My goal for 2014 is to read through the whole bible. So often when we make resolutions for the New Year, we get discouraged if we fail to keep them. I like the saying that goes like this.... "Each year's regrets are envelopes in which messages of hope are found for the New Year."
ReplyDeleteThis is a verse that challenged me at the beginning of the year last year as I was going through some intense questioning.
ReplyDeleteI realized that I could only agree with God's plan if I allowed Him to renew my mind. He had been working on me with love and grace.
As I quickly read this tonight, I thought "that seems like a difficult verse, maybe I should start with something else" I then opened my kindle to a book I just started and yes, it opened to a reference of the exact same passage. Perhaps I need to revisit Romans 12: 1-2. Thank you Ellen.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
I was involved in a scripture memory challenge last year of memorizing a verse twice a month. I was amazed how at the end of the year I had 24 scriptures memorized! I will continue this year but perhaps just one per month as I continue to keep the other 24 on my heart and mind. Never could have done this without the help of our Lord. It was so worthwhile!
ReplyDeleteI was at a workshop this past fall for teachers, and we were encouraged to read only one book or one Psalm, over and over again for an extended period of time. This way one becomes immersed in the scripture. Reading the whole Bible does not allow one to become totally knowledgeable with the Word. It allows for much deeper thinking with what we are reading.
ReplyDeleteYour reading plan really registers with me. I could do that 5 days a week and other books of the Bible 2 days.
ReplyDeleteYes, your plan has encouraged me. Thank you!