Scriptural Sundays: Romans 12:1-2

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This weeks Scripture is very personal. This connects perfectly with Part 3 of my own personal testimony about my Daddy. (You can catch up by reading pt 1 and pt 2). 

(Part 3) The Change

I was always a Daddy’s girl, even when we weren’t that close. He would never let anything happen to me and hated when I was hurt, sad or having a rough time. But, it wasn’t until my college years that I could really see that side of him. And, it wasn’t until I was married and having children of my own that I really saw the man my mom fell in love with. He was kind, gentle and soft-spoken with my babies. That is the Dad I remember!!!! That’s the Dad I wanted growing up! I was so happy he was “back” for lack of a better term.

Several years after we got married (2003), a family friend approached my Dad about a mission opportunity in March 2007. Now, my parents had been to Mexico with our church group for 6-7 years, but this mission was in Mozambique, Africa. WOW!!! The friend came over and talked to my parents for hours (like 4 or 5 I think). And, let me tell you right now…I had known this man for close to 20 years and had never heard him say more than 20 words at a time!! The talk got my Dad so fired up that he couldn’t quit talking about it. Now, my Dad could talk for hours, but usually it was about computers (he was a computer programmer). But, for him to talk about missions was a totally new experience. My husband and I decided we needed to know all about this mission idea. We were completely blown away.

The things they told us about the Mozambican people were astounding. They had/have no conceptual thinking skills – NONE!! For example: In a story the family friend told, he sat down with some tribal leaders and they presented him with a problem they had. They did not have the vegetation for their tribe. They needed to have some for food, but didn’t know how to get it. If I remember correctly, their land could not sustain vegetation, so farming was not an option. So how were they to get it? He told them they needed to meet together and discuss their options. (He had been working with them on conceptual thinking and problem solving skills at this point.) He said it literally took them 3 days to figure out they could sell/trade some of their cattle, of which they had an abundance, to get the vegetation they desired. THREE DAYS…can you imagine?! That would have taken most Western thinkers less than 15 minutes to figure out.

And there were many more stories like that one! They have very graphic pictures painted on the outside of their “public” restrooms so people know how to use them. Their women, who are treated as property, find their worth in how many children they can bear. Some starting at the young age of 12!! And the list could go on! It’s appalling to think about when you consider where we are in our American thinking. Yes, these people needed Jesus, but they couldn’t even understand the basic concept of good and evil. So how could they understand God’s saving grace?

It begins in Romans 12:1-2, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 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.” NLT (emphasis mine)

It all begins with “changing the way you think”! They were embarking on a new and ground-breaking philosophy that could and would quite literally change the world! And frankly, it already has!!


Blessings,
Annette


Part 4 coming Thursday!!!