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.
Romans 12:2
There is a prison within the prison that inmates call “The Hole.” There detainees are punished with solitary confinement—perhaps a week for minor infractions but up to a month or more for violent altercations. Being deprived of group activities and social interactions can prove to be almost too much to bear.
When one prisoner returned from a week in “The Hole,” I asked him what he’d done to deserve that penalty. Instead of owning his behavior, he rationalized it and gave excuses. Perhaps you’ve been in a situation where you believed you were dealt with unjustly. The pattern of the world is to make excuses for and justify bad behavior. But as Christ followers, God’s Spirit renews our minds and convicts us to take responsibility for our actions.
Pause and remember how Jesus endured “the prison within the prison” for you. He went alone to the depths of hell and took sin’s punishment that you deserved. Had He earned such cruel treatment? Did He offer even one excuse? No. All because of His unfailing love for you!
When one prisoner returned from a week in “The Hole,” I asked him what he’d done to deserve that penalty. Instead of owning his behavior, he rationalized it and gave excuses. Perhaps you’ve been in a situation where you believed you were dealt with unjustly. The pattern of the world is to make excuses for and justify bad behavior. But as Christ followers, God’s Spirit renews our minds and convicts us to take responsibility for our actions.
Pause and remember how Jesus endured “the prison within the prison” for you. He went alone to the depths of hell and took sin’s punishment that you deserved. Had He earned such cruel treatment? Did He offer even one excuse? No. All because of His unfailing love for you!
Scripture Focus
Isaiah 53:7
Insight
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Bible In A Year
- Leviticus 1-2
- Psalm 46
- Luke 10
