Living Stones – Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Renew your mind

Romans 12:2

… do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind …

So, we are still in the head. In this well know passage in the New Testament, Romans 12:1-2, we are told that there must be a mind renewal to keep us in line with the perfect will of God for us. In other words, we have to change our thinking to comply with what God requires from us with respect to how we live out our faith, how we use our gifts, and how we relate to each other in the kingdom.

If we read on in Romans from here we would realise that after the deep theological discourses of the Letter to the Romans, Paul comes down, as he always does, the practical life of the Christian. Romans 12:1-2 is the point on which the guidance turns. To give practical expression to the great salvation we have received we have to change the way we think first.

Paul essentially makes the point that there is a “pattern” of thought in the world, a line of thinking that defines the age. While the world’s thought is always hostile to God, how that is manifested from age to age tends to be different. We see this if we study philosophy, art, culture; we see that in every era man’s rebellion to God is expressed differently.

Transformation of our thought life would obviously take some time, but we have to be working at it all the time. To think differently to the world therefore, we have to be able to identify the pattern of thought in our time. These patterns, as we said earlier, are usually exposed in arts and culture, and in style and fashion, and so we can usually identify them easily there.

The idea here is not to shun arts and culture or style and fashion, rather it is to use them as windows into the thinking of the age. What we are looking for is a pattern. As we said last week a pattern is – a consistent, characteristic form or style or method. If we examine the arts, culture, style, fashion and the like, of our era will see a pattern emerge. When we compare this pattern with the Word of God we will be able to determine where the pattern of this world is not in keeping with God’s requirements for us and make the adjustments in our thinking.

Spiritual transformation starts in the head. A mind that stays focused on a pattern of thought that complies with the corrosive thinking of then contemporary era, rather that confronting contemporary thinking with the word of God is from a life that is not transformed. We can go to church and we can sing and clap and dance there, but if our thought life has not been transformed from the pattern of the world we fool ourselves.

The only way to effectively confront the culture of our time is with the timeless word of God and the only way to do that is to know the word, to think on that word (meditate) so that the Spirit of God could shape and guide our character and conduct in the midst of a corrupt culture. 

Think of these things:

1. Have you stopped to notice that there is a what that the world thinks that is different to what the Bible requires?
2. In what ways is your thinking in keeping with that of the world? In what way has your thinking been influenced by the Bible? Make two lists, it may be very helpful.
3. What steps are you going to take to ensure that you thinking is constantly being changed?

Prayer focus:

Pray today that for the Holy Spirit to help us change our pattern of thought where we fail to meet the standard of thought recommended in the scripture. 

In His Grace

Pastor Alex