Make Your Renovations!

Recently the Canadian Government has passed legislation where tax refunds are given to people who are renovating their houses. With this now in place, people are taking advantage of the cheaper way to renovate. People are ripping out their old cupboards and putting in nice new oak ones. The old counter top is being replaced with marble. A basement is being transformed from just a dead storage area into living quarters for more people. People are taking advantage of their ability to make their home more valuable at a discounted price.

Do we take advantage of this ourselves? Christians, who will get a marvelous refund in eternity, should be renovating everyday: renovations of the mind. Paul commands us several times that we are to renovate our minds.

First in Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." The word renewing would be better understood to us as renovating. People can see a house transformed from an old dump into a glorious mansion through renovations. How different are we? We are taken from a useless vessel headed straight down the road of destruction, when we are pulled off this broad street at the accepting of the Lord Jesus' blood as our payment for sin. We begin as infants, or a dumpy house if you will. Then the Lord through the Holy Spirit starts His work on us (Titus 3:5).

Ephesians 4:23 is placed in the middle of verses talking about how the person who we used to be is dead, and how we have a new person that we should be becoming. Nothing short of daily renewal of our mind will do this. Continually in the scripture, learning more about Christ and how to live our lives more like Him is the life blood of our personal renovations. The knowledge of the example of Christ needs to be instilled in our minds so that we can face even the fiercest temptation with the help of the Lord (Col 3:10).

The last verse is 2 Corinthians 4:16, "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." This verse is the emphasis on the importance of the daily renewal of the mind. Each day we need something that we can take with us, transforming us into a more beautiful house of the Holy Spirit in Christ. The daily need of the Lord is shown to us in the account of the children of Israel in the wilderness gathering manna (Exodus 16:14-21). The Israelite could not gather as much as they could and keep it for the rest of the week, they needed to go daily to gather the manna. If they did gather more than they could it than it would spoil. The same goes with the word of God. We need to daily gather and meditate so that it is at the forefront of our minds. A Christian who doesn't do this becomes cold and stale. They become run down and in need of cleaning. The carpet of their life needs vacuuming, and their windows need cleaning.

What kind of Christian are we? We need to continually be in fellowship with the Lord if we plan to succeed and be satisfied in God's blessings to us. We need to be continually working on our lives and making them more beautiful.

In this time of mass renovations, go ahead and put on the addition. Put in the new bath tub of relaxation in Christ. Make our lives more beautiful, so that when others see us they want what we have. I encourage each one to increase their market value; renovate your mind daily through prayer, meditation and the word of God.