Romans
12:1-2 (NIV) 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's
mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's
will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
On October 29, 2014, CNN reported… http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/29/us/pumpkinstein-scary-pumpkins/...
- There are heads growing on Tony Dighera's farm, and they're not made of
lettuce. They're called "pumpkinsteins," and they look a lot like the
Frankenstein creature that actor Boris Karloff made famous more than 80 years
ago.
"Nobody's ever seen anything
like it, ever," said Dighera of his creepy creations.
"It's so new, and it's so
unique that demand has been off the charts," Dighera said.
Dighera, who opened his Cinagro Farms eight years
ago, says he was inspired after seeing cube-shaped watermelons grown in Japan.
He was successful in creating not only edible, box-shaped watermelons at his
Fillmore, California, organic farm, but heart-shaped melons as well. He then
made the leap to try to create a unique-looking pumpkin -- a four-year process
that is only proving fruitful this year. The pumpkinstein was the result of
four years of trial and error.
"A lot of people thought I was
nuts. When I first started doing this I think every farmer in the world looked
at me like I was a complete lunatic."
Dighera carefully builds a
strong mold that encases the pumpkin yet permits air to reach the growing gourd
inside. The pumpkin variety has to be just right. They can't be too big or
they'll burst from the molds. Too small and the pumpkins won't fill the molds.
Dighera still recalls the first time they squeezed that pumpkin into the mold
and it worked. Out came a re-formed (or should we say "de-formed")
pumpkin that looked like Frankenstein's head.
Dighera doesn't know
whether he has a thriving pumpkinstein until he removes the nuts and bolts from
the mold and successfully removes the pumpkin. But don't expect pumpkinsteins
to boot jack-o'-lanterns off the porch completely. They're not cheap. It costs
100 bucks to squeeze those pumpkins into a mold and reshape them into a
monster.
In Romans 12:2 the Apostle
Paul tells the followers of Jesus to “not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world”. J.B. Phillips’ paraphrase
(The New Testament in Modern English)
of this phrase is vivid: “Don’t let the
world around you squeeze you into its own mold”. The world around us
relentlessly puts pressure on us. It doesn’t make distinctions between the pagan
and the Christian – the unbeliever and the believer. It just seeks to shape our
thinking, our choices, our words, and our actions, whoever we are. It wants to
run the show. And the closer a man is to Christ, the more sharply he feels the
clamps of worldly thinking and ways as they try to latch on to him. The world
cries steadily, “Take my shape. Fit yourself to me. Do what I do. Be like me. That
will bring you happiness and contentment.” But nothing could be further from
the truth.
There is only one thing that can
protect the follower of Jesus from such pressure from without to conform: a
greater pressure within that refuses to be shaped. Where can a Christian find
this? The next thing Paul says is, “but
let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that
the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the
goal of true maturity.” Or, as the NIV puts it, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” The mind is renewed,
or re-molded, by the Word of God. It has power to not only withstand the
pressure from the world, but to overcome it. The Holy Spirit – God Himself with
us – takes the Word of God and applies it to our lives, shielding and
protecting us from the world’s onslaught to make us conform. God’s Word has
power to conform us to Jesus Himself. Through the Word and by His grace Jesus
is shaping us into a new creation that reflects His love and grace.
Christlikeness is a great gift and joy of our salvation and new life in Christ.
How has Christ been shaping you lately, and in what ways has He been using His
Word in the process?
Psalm 119:9-11 (NIV) 9 How can a young man
keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 10 I
seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I
have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Hebrews 4:12
(NLT) For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than
the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint
and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
PRAYER: Lord, let me find in your Word all my
sufficiency for life that honors and pleases you, and overcomes the world. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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