By Judy Villanueva
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. (Romans 12:1)
A few weeks ago, I decided to start my days by asking God to show me my purpose for each day. I imagined it would be something extraordinary, you know, something that could be measured as worthwhile and good! I guess it’s not a big surprise that instead, ordinary encounters and simple daily chores became my purpose. To be honest, the “ordinary” felt a little disappointing so I googled the word and found these descriptives: usual, normal, regular, typical. Not exactly what our culture invites us to aspire to, right? Then, I bumped into Romans 12:1 in The Message and felt splashed with the coolest most refreshing perspective! I found myself inspired and relieved and called to bring my everyday, ordinary, “walking-around life” to God — as an offering! What a mind and heart shift!
It will never be the profound and amazing me that pleases God and always instead, the me offered to God in my walking-around life.
Do you ever wake up with an ache in your gut to have your life matter? I do. Some seasons are so full of people and tasks that there is little room to worry about such things. But, other seasons are quieter, lonelier where questions of meaning surface along with the steady conviction that God made us ON purpose and FOR His purposes. These can be tricky ruminations because we are naturally inclined to compare ourselves with others, supposing everyone else’s purpose to be shinier than ours and more important.
But, the astounding truth is that our lives, when offered to God, are placed in Divine hands — the same hands that made Heaven and earth!
So, how do we place our lives before God as an offering? Paul helps us understand the need for a shift in focus away from an “all about me” way of living to an “all about Him” life of worship.
“Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves…The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” (Romans 12:3)
What a relief and what a way to approach the day! By calling to mind the wonders of God, Who He is and what He does for us, we can start the day focused on God and stirred up with gratitude. We can trust Him to use us as He wills AND, we can pray for His help to stay alert so that we will notice His presence in the this and that of the day — and obey as He leads us into His purposes. We can even relax when we feel ordinary because, offered to God, we are held in extraordinary hands!
“I place my life before you, God, as an offering today. Fill my mind with thoughts of You! Turn my focus to Your face and help me to trust that you have made me and know just how to use me. Amen.”
What about you?
Have you considered that God made you ON purpose and FOR His purposes?
What might your day look like if you were to place your life before God as an offering? What would be on your mind? How would that feel?
Like me, do you need God’s help to shift focus from an “all about me” way of living to an “all about Him life of worship?”
Worship