Former Blackout Artist

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:2 (NLT)

I grew up in a very rural place in Southeastern Kentucky. It was so far off the beaten path that if a tree fell on a power line, we were often without electricity for days at a time, sometimes even weeks. In fact, it wasn’t until the late 80’s that the 3-mile stretch of road by our house, that we drove daily, was finally paved with blacktop.

It was utterly pointless to wash your car, especially in the dry summer months. Because the moment you drove on that dirt road, dust would completely cover it. And in the springtime when it would rain, we would get a reprieve from the dust. But then we would have to deal with the mud. And if it rained for several days, these deep ruts would form in the road. Many times they would get so deep that the undercarriage of my dad’s car would sometimes scrape the ground.

And if you got into those ruts, it was nearly impossible to get out of them. You wouldn’t even have to worry about steering the car – it just followed the entrenched pattern. And it would be like this for miles.

The Bible makes it very clear that left to ourselves – we have a serious thinking problem. Just like that old dirt road, our minds become deeply ingrained with thought patterns of the world that are impossible to get out of without God’s intervention.

The apostle Paul talked more about our “stinking thinking” than any other writer in the New Testament.

• Romans 12:2 – our minds can be renewed
• Philippians 4:8 – we can choose what we mentally dwell on
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 – we can bring our thoughts under Christ’s authority
• Colossians 3:2 – we can set our minds on things above
• Ephesians 4:22 – our attitudes can be made new
• Romans 8:5 – our minds can be set on what the Spirit desires

The issue isn’t just how often we think about things. The bigger problem is what we’re thinking about when we do think. Isn’t it true that we’re surrounded by people who try to resolve spiritual problems with worldly solutions? Paul says that has never worked! But why do we keep trying to do that?

Because the enemy is constantly engaged in a battle for our minds. This is precisely why Paul goes on to tell us in Ephesians 6:10, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Are we allowing the world to tell us what matters, or are we allowing God to tell us what matters?

Are we determining what is right and true by what the world accepts, or by what God has revealed in His Word?

Are we testing the world’s perspective through the truth of God’s Word, or are we interpreting God’s Word through the world’s perspective?

Getting out of a deep rut can be difficult because our wheels naturally follow the tracks already there. In the same way, changing our thinking takes intentional effort and God’s help. Through the Holy Spirit, we can learn to recognize the old tracks, stop following them automatically, and choose a new direction -one that leads us toward Christ.