Reset

When I’m having trouble with my smartphone, pad or computer, I often call my son Brandon to get help. More times than not, he first asks when the last time was that I had shut my device off to allow it to be re-set. And (again), more times than not, this solves the problem.

Over my many years of walking with Jesus, I have learned that there are times when I too need a re-set in my spiritual life. In those times, I discover so many things, e.g., the need to get rid of clutter, to reorient my life around biblical priorities, to make things right with others, etc. When I take the time to stop and allow the Lord to realign my life, I find my strength renewed and my joy restored. I imagine we all could use a re-set in our journeys with Jesus. Just as much, I believe that the time is at hand that we could use a re-set as a church family.

Romans 12-13 is a Bible passage that can help us. After writing eleven chapters of sound theology speaking of God’s gospel that offers salvation to all who place faith in Jesus, the Apostle Paul turns in Chapter 12 from explaining the gospel to telling us how to live in response to it. As he tells us in his opening words to this section of his letter, the life God wants us to live after we trust Jesus is to be lived “in view of God’s mercy (12:1a).” In other words, we who follow Jesus no longer live self-directed and self-directed lives. We live for the one who died for us and rose again (cf, 2 Cor 5:15).

In these two chapters, we will consider some of the most important parts of daily living. Among them are these:

• The only thing that will motivate and sustain a re-set life;
• The gift of community that God gives and in which we grow through mutual service;
• The growing love, both for church family members and for enemies to the faith, that should characterize our new lives;
• The basis upon which we might live in a society in which the government is in opposition to the ways of the kingdom of God.

I pray that our lives will be re-set in response to the mercy and the grace of God.