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.
As a Children’s Pastor for roughly 20 years, I had the privilege of observing kids at all different ages and stages. You might think I need my head examined, but one of my favorite age groups – besides those cute kindergarten kids – is 3rd-5th grade boys. There is a lot of burping and farting…and talking about burping and farting, but they are so fun. They often make a lot of impulse decisions resulting in some pretty hilarious outcomes. But if you watch closely you can almost see their little minds working things out… even if things are taking a turn for the worse. Their brains are growing at such a fast pace and they are evaluating and changing course as they go. Giving them information is often much like a challenge. There is almost an internal need to test what you have told them to see if it is true, and it is great fun to watch them learn and explore.
As a follower of Christ, I think that is what God wants us to do all the time! We live in an information age and we could easily just take the abundance of tweets, facebook posts, and wikipedia info as complete truth and roll with it. But as followers of Christ we live as changed people! Transformed! I think God delights in watching us grow as we evaluate and test what the world might tell us – holding it up against His Word to know the truth for ourselves. Today ask God to help you really seek to know what is true by testing it for yourself. Seek His wisdom and His guidance so that your decisions are shaped and directed by His loving hand as you learn and grow.
