Near the end of his first correspondence to the church in Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul gives his readers a joyful challenge. He encourages them to, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Paul says, in all circumstances, followers of Jesus ought to have this unwavering disposition, a strange cocktail of joy and prayerfulness and gratitude. It's the will of God. His instruction teaches us that thankfulness is not a response to our situation. Thankfulness is a response to our hope. Giving thanks, despite our circumstances, takes incredible discipline. Not because it's hard to find ways that God has been good and faithful and generous. It takes work because we get distracted, don't we? And we often fail to see with the eyes of faith.

In Christ we are given a new mind. Paul tells the church in Corinth, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Because of this new mind, you can understand the mind of the Lord. We can know God’s will. Think about that. God gives us a mind to understand his mind. He wants you to know his will. We are to resist conforming to this world, resist trusting the false promises of this world, and we are to be transformed by the renewal of our minds (see Romans 12:2). The very fact that we are given a new mind assures us that God is giving us what we need in order to understand his will. It's grace. It's love. It's mercy. Specifically, through salvation you have been given the mind of Christ. Specifically we can discern what theologians call, God's moral will.

Let's start with the big picture and then zoom in on something the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1 ...

A good starting point is simply acknowledging that God explicitly tell us to worship him, exclusively. The first commandment is clear, “You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Moses builds on this teaching, instructing Israel, "It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you..." (Deuteronomy 6:13-14). Jesus actually quotes this exact passage when Satan tempts him in the wilderness. Satan promises Jesus the kingdoms of the world if he bows down and worships him. Jesus responds, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’” (Luke 4:8). At some level we should worship God because he tells us to worship him, exclusively.

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme court overturned our country's landmark ruling on the constitutionality of abortion. Of course that case is famously known as Roe v. Wade. That is, Jane Roe versus district attorney Henry Wade. Jane Roe was a pseudonym given to a woman named Norma McCorvey who sought an abortion in the state of Texas in the early 1970s. When she was unable to do so, she filed suit and the court ruled in her favor, setting into law one of the most divisive civil liberties in American history.