August 03

At the Crossroads


… be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)


When the people including the tax collectors, heard this, they all agreed that God’s teaching was good, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts on the law refused to accept God’s plan for themselves; they did not let John baptize them.

Luke 7:29-30 (NCV)


In her book, Right Words at the Right Time, Volume 2: Your Turn!, Marlo Thomas says, “There are times in our lives when the right words spoken at the right moment can transform us. They challenge us at a crossroads, carry us through times of sorrow or dare us to action.”

I face this challenge daily and so do you. We may not realize it, but God commands us to think differently by listening and by taking action. He invites us to live differently—His way and not our own.

Left to our own thinking, we will go our way, and we will conform to this world’s model of acute self-interest. But if we dare to break out of this restrictive cocoon by listening and daring to take action, our transformation will be like the butterfly’s—startling, beautiful, complete.

In Jesus’ day, it was the common people who listened and felt the power of God in their lives. Now Jesus challenges us: Will we listen? Will we break out of the world’s mold? Will we be transformed?


Lord, lead us into Your truth. Change our hearts, our minds, our lives … for Your glory! Amen.