This text is pointing to your need for the word of God in your life. The Bible is the means of renewing your mind, changing what you think, how you think, how you process life, and how you make decisions.
But there is an issue, right here in this text.
As the text clearly says, being transformed by the renewal of your mind is the way to avoid being conformed to this world. And that is the issue. Transformation requires both positive and negative actions. In other words, you need to get the word of God working in your life, but part of that includes putting off those old patterns of life. Putting off the world, and putting on the word. These things work together, in concert with each other. Renewal is meant to be replacement.
The Apostle Paul speaks elsewhere of putting off one thing and putting on another. And as you get more word into your life, you crowd out that old way of life. You learn to discern what God’s will is, and your mind and your will are better equipped to want to do it. That’s the way the word of God works. You put the good stuff in and it pushes the garbage out. At least it’s supposed to.
What about you, though? Do you feel as if the word isn’t working for you? Is there a reason? Well, let me talk about one sure way that hinders the word of God in your life. There are others, but this is the big problem for most people.
The problem for most people is that they aren’t getting enough word. More precisely, they aren’t letting the word get into every part of their lives. Stay with me, this may not be what you think. In growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ, there will be other issues to address, but this issue must be addressed. You need to be immersed, marinated, saturated, in other words, fully engaged with the word of God. This is the only way that you will be renewed in your mind to such a degree that you are transformed in every area and arena of your practical life. Perhaps you’ve been dipped in it, maybe bathed a little in it, or even some parts of your life are full of the word of God. But again, you need to be immersed, marinated, saturated in the Scriptures. In other words, you need to be dunked in it, rolled around in it, and so well soaked that you are permeated with the word of God.
Now I’m getting at something here that may seem like you’ve heard it all before, but maybe you really haven’t. I don’t want to make you feel guilty, I want to show you how to grow. I want you to feel good, and hopeful, and confident that there is a clear path and definite plan for you to start getting the word to really have an effect in your life.
Sometimes people might not realize how little space they leave for the word in their lives. People are immersed in the culture, they marinate their minds with social media, and they are saturated with virtual reality, with politics, with any number of other things. That’s what’s having the most effect on them. The word of God is crowded out, or placed in a “Sunday morning and hopefully for less than 30 minutes” space. And maybe just every other week or so. You might think you’ve got to have your alone time, your family time, or whatever. I’m not trying to begrudge you that. And I’ll talk about your time in a minute. The point is that instead of the word saturating every part of your life, it is compartmentalized for when you think you need it. It is as if you expect that since the word of God is divine that it will replace your discipline. It will not.
Romans 12:2 comes on the heels of Romans 12:1, which says – I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. When you put Romans 12:1-2 together, it tells you that you need to sacrifice some of those things you might like to do for the most important thing you need to do. There is your answer. You have to give up some things, sacrifice them, to make time, in order to get the word working in your life so you won’t be fit into the pattern of this world and you’ll be able to live out the will of God in your experience.
Now, speaking of experience, people are often looking for emotional or transformational encounters outside the word of God rather than saturating themselves with the word of God. And so, when then they hear a message like this, they think it just means they need to spend more time in their Bibles. As if it is just one more item to add to their “to do” list. You try and do that, you wear yourself out, and then you reason that you just don’t have enough time. And here we are, to the clarifying message I want to give to you from this text.
You don’t need more time; you need to better use your time. To replace your time. To make time. You see, I’m not saying that you just need to add more and more Bible to your routine. I’m saying that you need to change your routine. I don’t want you to wear yourself out. I want you to wise yourself up. Replace time in the world with time in the word. That will always work.
You can fool me, but you can’t fool God, and please, don’t fool yourself. You don’t get to shortcut the process of permeation. Your lack will catch up to you. Yes, you should memorize verses of Scripture. But you don’t get to just memorize some verses and then think you can just whip them out like some “pocket Jesus” for those times you need extra help.
A lot of people can know a lot of Bible but still have only a little of the word working in their life. They treat God’s word like a college course that they just need to get through in order to graduate. But the word of God working in your life is a lifetime journey. It’s not a side issue.
Keep your sword sharp, my friends.
“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©
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