Renewing our minds

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect.

As I was reading today, the phrase "renewing of your minds" struck me as fascinating. To make something new again is something that our culture is obsessed with. Unfortunately our society mostly cares about this idea when it has to do with our physical appearance, material possessions, and credit score. Although we say that we look to Christ for our 'renewal', is that reflected in the way we live?

Fill in the blank: In the morning in order to get ready for the day ahead, I always _______. Drink my cup of coffee, listen to music, read the paper, or workout? After a long day, I like to renew my mind by_________. Watching TV, reading a book to help us get away, spending time with family, or for some, putting up their feet with a glass of wine and relaxing music. Wait...now that I look at it in writing...something seems to be missing...but what? Oh, that's right, my relationship with God: my 30 second prayer before breakfast that God will help me get through this day and bite my tongue when I'm around _____, and at night before dinner thanking God for the food and for all our blessings, and before bed asking God to help me actually sleep through the night and be rested so I can start it all again tomorrow. Yep. I knew there was something missing.

We say that God is the most important thing in our lives and our first priority.

I wonder what would be different if I started setting aside a whole five minutes a day to talk or spend time with my husband...and we wonder why God isn't speaking to us. My husband wouldn't be either!

But seriously, by our own standards we wouldn't really call spending five minutes with someone a deep relationship. We would probably consider that at best a friend with whom we barely scratch the surface, and at worst barely an acquaintance. Someone we are in relationship to, not in a relationship with.

So how does this all fit into renewing our minds? Well, if we work backward, we want to discern the will of God and do what is 'good and acceptable, and perfect' right? So in order to do that, we have to 'renew our minds'. What does renew mean anyway? Well, for a moment let's look at the actual definition of what it means to renew:

re·new
1. To make new or as if new again; restore: renewed the antique chair.
2. To take up again; resume: renew an old friendship; renewed the argument.
3. To repeat so as to reaffirm: renew a promise.
4. To regain or restore the physical or mental vigor of; revive: I renewed my spirits in the country air.
5.
a. To arrange for the extension of: renew a contract; renew a magazine subscription.
b. To arrange to extend the loan of: renewed the library books before they were overdue.
6. To replenish: renewed the water in the humidifier.
7. To bring into being again; reestablish.
v.intr.
1. To become new again.
2. To start over.

Those are a lot of really cool images of what it means to renew something. If we thought about letting God renew our mind in all those ways, it seems like it might take more than a total of five minutes a day of us just talking at God. I will be the first one to say that sometimes, God does reveal things to me in five minutes, but almost every one of those times I have been listening and not talking. We pray and ask God to show us where he wants us to go, pour out our heart, and ask for our needs. Those are all wonderful and really important things, but at that point it becomes a one way conversation.

All of us have had a friend who talks and talks, but never lets us get in a word. What would happen if we decided that in our most valued relationship with a family member or friend, we were going to start doing all the talking, but never listening to what that person had to say or listen to their point of view? A real relationship requires a giving AND taking, talking AND listening. Hopefully more listening than talking, as I'm pretty sure God has more wisdom in one whisper of his voice than I would have if I talked my whole life long.

The craziest part is that God wants to talk to us and so he can help us and let us know how much we are loved. It's not like going to dentist...well maybe sometimes it feels like it when he tells us things we know will mean changing our lives, but even those things are to refine us and mold us more to his image if we let him. Things like reading the Bible, praying, spending time in nature, sitting in silence, or just sitting and listening or singing worship songs help us to be still and just be with God, listen to God, and wait for God to show us something or reveal himself in scripture, nature, etc.

Let's fight against the urge to put God in a nice, neat box that we can check off. Okay God, I've got five minutes now for some serious renewing, so let's have some quality time and lets make it quick!

"There's no such thing as as perfect people, there's no such thing as a perfect life, come as you are, broken and scared, lift up your hearts, be amazing, be changed, by a perfect God." - Natalie Grant