Conformity - Daily Devotional September 15th 2009

Daily Bible Reading - 2 Kings 21, Ezekiel 11, Luke 7

Conformity

Conformity = "action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices."

The Bible was never meant to be read as a bedtime story or as a novel for mere pleasure. The Bible was always intended to be a constitution or bylaws and even a road map that drives our way of life. It was set up as a worldview standard that would show us how we might have life and have that life more abundantly.

With that being said we all realize that we face the same battle of those we read about today in our Bible reading. That battle in it's most simple form is fighting against conformity. Ezekiel 11:12 says, "And you will know that I am the LORD, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you." In this verse God is concluding the announcement of His judgment on His people. He is announcing judgment because they are no longer living according to the way of life they should be, instead they have conformed to the nations around them. 2 Kings 21:2 shows us how upset God was with His people and with king Manasseh as it states, Manasseh "did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelite's".

As we go into the New Testament the battle against conformity still wages on. This battle though only increases as we battle a religious mindset. This conformity is seen time and time again with the people that Jesus is ministering to. In Luke 7:36-50 Jesus is in the house of a Pharisee ministering to people. As He is ministering a woman comes up and falls at the feet of Jesus and starts washing His feet with her tears and her hair. The immediate response of the man who's house it was is, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." Jesus responds with a thought and then concludes it in Luke 7:44-47, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much." This man was so conformed to a religious mindset that he was appalled at the fact that Jesus would allow this woman to touch Him. The reality is if he really knew who Jesus was he would know that Jesus came to seek and save people just like this woman.

In the old testament the battle against conformity is seen by not conforming to other nations, in the new testament it is seen by not conforming to a religious mindset. Today the battle you and I face against conformity is even more fierce. We must battle to not conform to the fallen world around us and we must not conform to a religious mindset. That battle often leaves us in a state that Revelations 3:16 calls "lukewarm". We are lukewarm because throughout the week we often find ourselves conforming to the fallen world by the conversations we have, the situations we find ourselves in and even the way we live our life. Then on Sunday we find ourselves heading to church to appease our conscience which causes us to fight the battle of conforming to a religious mindset. The cure for this is seen in Romans 12:1-2 and Revelation 3:15. Have your mind be transformed and either be totally living right for God (hot) or live totally in the world (cold) but if we keep living lukewarm we will end up no where but in the battle of conformity.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - 2 Kings 22-23, Ezekiel 12, Luke 8

Dream Big
Ben Brinkman