Chuck Swindoll said, ‘We like to imagine ourselves a race of rugged individuals – the Patrick Henrys, Davy Crocketts and Lone Rangers. The truth is, we hate to appear different lest we be ostracised, branded fanatics and rejected. So, we conform. You’ll see it in the child eager to please; the adolescent aligning with peer pressure; the adult breaking their back to keep up with the Joneses.’ Just being different for its own sake is likely to be worthless, even counterproductive. What God wants from us is our willingness to be radically transformed. ‘Therefore, I urge you…to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (vv. 1-2 NIV). Here are two important observations to help you reach that goal. 1) Transformation belongs to believers. The unbeliever can’t break the world’s control over them without Christ, but believers are promised: ‘the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world’ (1 John 4:4 NLT). God’s indwelling Spirit enables you to resist the world’s pressure to conform you to its ways. 2) God’s appeal is urgent. ‘I urge you.’ Words like beg, plead, beseech are used in some translations because the appeal isn’t secondary or optional. It’s vital, a divine imperative! God is seeking for surrendered vessels that are ready to be transformed for His use. Are you willing to say, ‘Yes, Lord, use me’?
