Don’t Get Squeezed

Do not be conformed to this world, but 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

“It’s the real thing.” “Just do it.” “Keeps going and going and going.” The right words have the ability to stick like glue in our memory. In the Christian world, a phrase written by Englishman J. B. Phillips in his translation of Romans 12:2 has attained the same legendary status: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.”

That’s a beautiful word picture of the pressure the world system puts on those who live in it. That happened to Lot, the nephew of Abraham. The two men’s flocks were overgrazing the land, and their owners decided to separate. Lot looked around and chose ready access to the enticements of the wicked city of Sodom, while Abraham went in the opposite direction (Genesis 13:5-13). That decision led to a future of futility for Lot and almost cost him his life on more than one occasion. Have recent decisions you’ve made conformed you more to the values of God’sKingdom or to those of the world?

Being conformed is good (Romans 8:29) as long as the mold is a godly one.

Unless there is within us that which is above us, we shall soon yield to that which is about us.

P. T. FORSYTH