What do our minds have in common with a dilapidated old house?  More than you might think… hear me out.

Imagine a house that’s really run-down.  It’s drafty and leaky and the electrical work is totally inadequate.  Bottom line: a fresh coat of paint won’t cut it.  When a house is in this kind of rough condition, a real renovation is in order.  That means tearing out a lot of stuff that may or may not seem all that bad so that you can fix everything inside and rebuild it right.

It turns out, when we come to God, our ways of thinking have a lot in common with those fixer-uppers.  We can’t just put a new layer on top of our old viewpoints and expect that to fix all that is wrong.

Our minds have to be renewed- all the habits, thoughts gathered over the years, all the ways of relating to things, etc. (excerpt from Receiving Revelation from the Foundation Stone pt.1, by Dr. Chester C. Pipkin)

Similar to that run-down house, there may be things on the surface that don’t seem so bad to us, but God- the Master Builder- sees how much of our thinking and understanding needs to be totally replaced with His own way of seeing things.  It’s not a trivial change.  In fact, the Bible tells us to, 

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:2 NKJV)

We can’t just try to modify or tweak our thinking and expect it to be in line with God.  Instead, let’s go for the full remodel and let God bring about an amazing transformation!