Mom's home Bible-study

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This morning the preacher preached on Romans 12:1-2 about the mercies of God moving us to present our bodies a living sacrifice as spiritual worship, our minds being transformed to know His perfect will. It reminded me of the mornings over our hot cereal, before rushing off to school, that my mother led us in studying the Bible. It is where I first learned that passage. And all of Romans. And Galatians. And Revelation. Apart from our daily devotions as a family--Daddy reading a chapter of scripture, calling on one of us to lead in prayer, and finishing with a hymn together--Mom's diligence in teaching us around the table has had the longest impact on my life. The memory pushes me to urge my daughters and nieces and other young mom friends to shape the precious lives placed in your care by reading scripture, memorizing scripture, teaching scripture, applying scripture to them--as you sit down, as you rise up, as you walk in the way, as you drive to the market, the playground, the lessons. May God equip you all to live abundantly.