Learning to Know
How badly do you want to know God’s will for your life? For this new year?
Verse of the Day
‘Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.’
Today’s Devotional
“Then.” This is a powerful word. Especially in this verse.
I want to know God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will for my life. In order for that to be revealed to me, there are some things I need to be doing.
Don’t copy the behaviors and customs of this world. I am not to participate in certain things that this world and its culture condones. I should not be spending my life thinking about what I can get. I need to be cautious how I use my voice and opinions. I need to step away from the self-focused nature of this world and behave in a way that is others-focused. People, that’s hard to do. And it takes intention. I have to ask myself, quite often, “What can I do for others today?” My default mode is all about me. My wants and desires. My “needs”. My thoughts, opinions, and perspectives. We, as people of God, need to be purposefully stepping out of behaviors that are self-focused. We need to be careful what voices we listen to. We need to be aware of, and perhaps change, the things that have access to our minds. This might include television, internet, social media, how we are comforted, and what makes us feel accepted, esteemed, and safe.
Allow God to transform my thinking. How in the world are we to do this? I would love for God to wave a magic wand (or whatever God uses) over my selfish brain and change the way I think. But I can tell you from my limited experience that this takes TIME. It takes probably as much time as I allow God access to my mind and heart.
Have you ever considered, as you have tried to change certain habits and behaviors, that a change in your thinking is required for behavioral transformation? This verse says that God makes me a new person BY CHANGING THE WAY I THINK.
If I would like for God to change the way I think, a couple of things need to happen. First, I need to think about what I think about. What am I thinking? How is my thinking helping me or hindering me from being the person God created me to be? Next, I need to admit to God that my thinking is not centered on Him. Third, I need to allow God to have access to my thinking and ask Him to correct my thoughts. This involves prayer and Bible reading with the expressed intention of learning whatever God needs to teach me. Last, whenever God shows me what I need to learn, I need to grasp onto that truth like a life raft.
Then we will learn to know God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will. After we stop behaving like this world. After we allow God access to change our thinking. THEN. And notice that we will LEARN TO KNOW. This is a process that is not going to be perfectly linear. We must learn to know what God’s will is for us. Everything I’ve ever had to learn was not easy, took practice, required the help of others, and required that I keep at it. Which probably means that I need to continually decide not to copy the world. And continually allow God to have access to change my thinking.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How badly do you want to know God’s will for your life?
Where have you copied the behavior and customs of this world?
What do you need to intentionally cut out in order to stop copying the world?
How much access does God currently have to your thinking?
How can you give God more access to your mind?
How can you show your gratitude to God today for His desire to change your thinking?