Renewal --> Justice
How terrible it will be for those who make unfair laws, and those who write laws that make life hard for people. They are not fair to the poor, and they rob my people of their rights. They allow people to steal from widows and to take from orphans what really belongs to them. ~ Isaiah 10:1,2 (NCV)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. ~ Romans 12:2 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
When we are transformed by God's renewal program we start treating people right.
PRAYER:
God, thank you for standing up for those who are treated wrongly. And the world seems to be all about taking advantage of people when we can get away with it. We rarely even think of what we do as taking unfair advantage of people. It is just so much a part of the system. And I don't really try hard to break away from it all. Transform my mind so that I think and act differently. I'd rather raise up the poor than to participate in a system which walks on top of them. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
