Scripture Reading: Romans 12:1-2

God would love to renew your mind.  He would love to replace any thoughts you have that are pulling you down with thoughts that will pull you up.  He would love to give you new thoughts, His thoughts, thoughts that will change the trajectory of the rest of your life.

How do I know?  Because God has given me new thoughts, His thoughts, and thoughts that have changed the trajectory of my life as I’ve read the book of Romans for the first time as an adult twenty-five years ago.

I wasn’t in the pit of despair.  I didn’t hate myself or my life.  I didn’t even know I was headed in the wrong direction with my life.  But as I began reading through the book of Romans, starting with chapter 1, God began answering questions that had been on my heart for a long time.  He began speaking to me through the words on the pages in such a clear and convincing way that I knew it was God who was speaking to me.

The things I read caused me to reevaluate my life, what I had been doing so far, and what I wanted to do in the future.  In the weeks that followed, God had so changed my thinking that I came to the point that I wanted to put my faith in Christ for everything in my life:  for the forgiveness of my sins, for the direction of my life, for my job, my body, my finances, my future.  Everything that was a part of me, I gave to Him.

Now, twenty-five years later, I am in a totally different place than I would have been had I stayed on the path I was on.  Even though I didn’t realize at the time the direction my life could have taken, God knew―and He wanted to spare me from it.  He picked me up, turned me around, and put me on a new path―a path that was headed toward an abundant and eternal life.

How did this life-change all get started?  It started with an idea.  A thought.  A thought that maybe God was right and I was wrong.  A thought that maybe if I were to truly follow God with my whole heart, that no matter where He led me, He would take me places that I could never have gone on my own.  A thought that if I trusted Him completely, that He really loved me, that He really cared for me deeply, and that He really knew what was best for me, then He would always lead me down a path that was in my best interest and His―even if I didn’t understand it at the time.

Ideas are powerful.  In the Academy Award-nominated movie, Inception, the main character asks an intriguing question:

“What is the most resilient parasite?  A bacteria?  A virus?  An intestinal worm?”  

Then he answers his own question with these words:

“An idea.  An idea is like a virus.  Resilient, highly contagious.  Once an idea has taken hold in the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate.”  

Later on in the movie, he adds:

“And the smallest seed of an idea can grow.  It can grow to define…or destroy you.”  

Ideas have started revolutions of all kinds―both good and bad.  The United States was started with an idea back in 1776.  But so were the terrorist attacks that killed so many of our people on September 11th, 2001.

Some of the ideas that have been planted in our minds are great.  They should be be nourished and fed.  But other ideas have taken root that aren’t so great.  They should probably be rooted out and destroyed, before they destroy us.

I’ve been talking with some friends who grew up having had seeds of faith planted deep within them when they were younger―seeds which were watered regularly as they got older.  But somewhere along the way, other people have planted doubts in their minds, doubts that have cropped up and overshadowed their faith.  Doubts that have grown so large that you can hardly tell that they ever had a seed of faith at all.  Unfortunately, they have begun watering and nurturing these doubts―by the books they read, the shows they watch, and the people with which they have surrounded themselves.

And yet I know they once had seeds of faith.  I was there when some of those seeds were planted.  I was there as they were being watered.  I even did some of the watering myself.  I believe they are still there!

But sometimes things happen along the way, both things that happen to us and things that we do to ourselves, that cause those good seeds within us to get crowded out and wither, letting the bad seeds grow up wild and unhindered.

It might seem like there’s no way out once this cycle begins.  It might seem sometimes that people have gone too far down the wrong path―that they’ll never be able to change.  But that’s a lie!

The truth is, God can change people’s hearts and minds in an instant.  He can turn a life around on a dime.  He can restore the years that have been wasted and put people back on the right path―His path―the path that leads to an abundant and eternal life.

But how?  How can God do it?  How can He transform you into the person that He wants you to be― into the person that you truly want to be, too?

The apostle Paul gave us an idea in the book of Romans―several ideas, in fact!  Ideas that can turn your life around and help you look at everything that happens to you differently.  Paul wrote the book of Romans as letter to those who believed in Jesus Christ in the city of Rome, almost 2,000 years ago.  He wrote it about 25 years after Jesus died and rose again from the dead.  At one point in his letter, Paul said:

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is―His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

God is saying the same thing to us today:  He doesn’t want us to be conformed to the pattern of this world―the worldly way in which things are done.  Instead, He wants us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Why?  Because then we’ll be able to know His will for our lives―His good, pleasing and perfect will—and to test it out and approve it for ourselves!  To know God’s will for our lives—how awesome would that be?

In the lessons ahead, I’ll be exploring with you several of Paul’s many ideas for how to renew your mind, from how you think about yourself, to how you think about God—and the people and situations that God has placed in your life.

For some of you, this will be a new and exciting venture into unexplored territory.  For others of you, this may be a new look at something you’ve tried to tackle before but haven’t yet found the secret of success.  In either case, take courage:  God is still in the life-changing business and He would love to change your life by renewing your mind!

I remember seeing some flowers that my friend and neighbor Mary Lou had planted in her front yard.  The flowers called impatiens, which grew into huge bushes, bursting with color.  My wife and I decided to plant some in our yard.  But even though we planted them in the perfect spot and watered them regularly, they hardly grew more than a few inches tall, while Mary Lou’s impatiens were flowing over and out of her planter boxes.

We couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  Then we asked her what her secret was.  It turns out it wasn’t a secret, she just used Miracle Grow (a type of fertilizer that helps plants grow to their fullest potential)!

My goal in this study is to give you a bit of Miracle Grow for your faith to help you grow to your fullest potential.

Sometimes we try doing things by ourselves.  We may be doing the exact same things that other people around us, but you would hardly know it by the results.  The difference may not be what we’re doing, but what we’re feeding on while we’re doing it.  My goal is to give you a key ingredient of faith!  Faith to believe that God can really do all that He says He can do in our lives!  As Jesus said, just a little bit of that stuff has the power to move mountains!

For some of you, moving a mountain may be just what you need right now.  So as we go through this study, I’ll be sharing some stories from my own life—as well as some stories from the Bible and from Christians throughout the ages—that I pray will boost your faith.  I pray they’ll give you the burst of life that you need to keep pressing forward and keep moving in the direction that God has in mind for you.

For today, let me encourage you to simply begin by seeking the Lord for His wisdom.  When you ask God for wisdom, He’s glad to give it to you, pouring His thoughts into your mind.  As He says in the book of Isaiah:

“Seek the LORD while He may be found;
call on Him while He is near. 

Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts. 

Let him turn to the LORD,
and He will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for He will freely pardon. 

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,”
declares the LORD. 

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts. 

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven, 

and do not return to it
without watering the earth 

and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower
and bread for the eater, 

so is My Word that goes out from
My mouth:
It will not return to Me empty, 

but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I
sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:6-11)

God would love to renew your mind.  He would love to pour out His wisdom upon you like rain from heaven, refreshing your soul as He does.  He would love to feed and nourish those ideas that will one day define you, and root out and destroy any ideas that could possibly destroy you.

In the lessons ahead, I pray that God will transform your life by renewing your mind.  I pray that God will use this time to renew your mind in powerful ways, transforming your life all along the way.  I’m looking forward to it myself, and I hope you are, too!

Will you pray with me?

Father, thank You for giving us ways to transform our lives by renewing our minds.  Thank You for the seeds of ideas that You’ve planted within us, those that are good and godly.  Help us to feed and nurture them so that we can grow to our fullest potential.  At the same time, we pray that You would help us root out any ideas that have been planted in our minds that are not from you, ideas that could be destroying us, even without our knowledge, so that we can live the life that You desire for us to live.  We pray this all in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Questions for Reflection

1. Read Romans 12:1-2.  What are some of the benefits of renewing your mind?

2. Read Isaiah 55:1-14.  What are some ways you could renew your mind, based on this passage?

3. Read Philippians 4:8.  What seeds have been planted in your life that God might want you to nourish?

4. Read Ephesians 5:1-20.  What seeds have been planted in your life that God might want you to root out?