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.
– Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Dick Fosbury turned the track and field world on its ear during the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. For the first time, millions of viewers watched in amazement as the high jump technique known as the Fosbury Flop was revealed. Using his back-first method, Fosbury won the gold medal in exciting fashion with a jump of 7 feet, 4 ¼ inches. While Fosbury’s style was unusual, high jump rules simply say that athletes must jump off one foot on takeoff. There is no rule on how a competitor crosses the bar as long as they go over it. What seemed like a radical idea was soon being copied and became the preferred style for high jumpers everywhere. In the 1972 Olympics, twenty-eight of the forty competitors used the Fosbury Flop. By 1980, thirteen of the sixteen Olympic finalists used it. Of the thirty-six Olympic medalists in the high jump from 1972-2000, thirty-four used the method, and today it is the most popular high jumping technique of elite competitors. What seemed like a radical idea is now the accepted way of doing things.

The world will try to squeeze us into its mold. Nonconformists are not welcome. Jesus Christ came into the world and modeled a radical way to live. His sacrifice on the cross delivered us from the world and its way of doing things. As believers, the world is crucified to us and we are crucified to the world. When we put our complete trust in Jesus Christ, our lives are transformed. we begin to think Godly thoughts, we seek His guidance and we begin to understand His love as we live in His will. This radical approach modeled by Jesus many years ago is still available today. Do you believe it? Are you living it?

Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me a radical way to live my life through Your Son Jesus Christ. Help me today to seek Your ways and not the ways of the world. Amen.