Thought for Friday, 7 July 2023

 Romans 12:3

As God’s messenger, I give each of you this warning:

be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. (New Living Translation) 

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (New International Bible) 

I have found in the course of producing these ‘thoughts’ that it is often useful to compare the same portion of scripture as it appears in various translations.  Most times it is very similar but sometimes it provides a slightly different take on the passage being studied. 

Today’s passage brought to mind an extract from one of the famous poems of Robert Burns.  In the last verse of ‘To a louse’, he writes:- 

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An foolish notion:
What airs in dress an gait wad lea'es us,
An ev'n devotion! 

On reflection, the idea of trying to view ourselves through the eyes of others isn’t a skill that many of us possess.  When I’ve tried it, I mainly focus on the good things I think I’ve done and carefully avoid any of the things that might make me feel a bit uncomfortable.  Similarly, by taking it a stage further and even beginning to imagine how God views us can take uncomfortable to a new level. 

Despite the discomfort and difficulty in doing this, we are told that it is something that has to be done seriously and with honesty.  The previous verse tells us not to copy the behaviour and customs of this world but to let God transform us into new people by changing the ways we think.  If we do this, then we will know what God wants us to do and how God wants us to behave.  We need to be able to differentiate the things we do to satisfy the pressure of worldly demands from the things we need to do and the things we need to avoid doing to satisfy God’s commands. 

Prayer - Heavenly Father, we thank You for Jesus and that we have been saved by grace through faith in His finished work. Thank You that our salvation does not rely on what we have done but on what Christ has already done on our account.  Help us endeavour to think, say and do the things we believe will be pleasing in your eyes and leave the worldly things where they need to be left.     Amen