“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” —Romans 12:1-2
I have had the privilege of visiting the UK a number of times since 2002. On my second visit, we were ministering in a church in Retford, which is in the northern part of England. The pastor, John Brewster, and his wife took us out to one of the few good restaurants in town the evening before we were to leave. The restrooms in this restaurant were located in the basement. The stairs were steep and the ceiling in the stairwell was very low. On the trip back up the stairs, I noticed a sign at the bottom of the steps intended to protect tall people like myself from hitting our heads on the low ceiling. The sign said, “Mind your head.”
The Lord spoke to me that day that this sign had another obvious spiritual application. We need to mind what is going on between our ears.
This passage in Romans 12 points out that transformation depends on our minds being renewed by God’s Word. All attempts to live a spiritual life apart from that will cause us to bump our heads and/or be conformed to the world.
The key to a victorious Christian life is our minds agreeing with our spirits. This requires the process of renewing our minds. This process includes laying aside all belief systems that do not line up with God’s Word. It also involves embracing the truth revealed in God’s Word about His ways as your own.
This is also the key to testing or proving out the will of God in your life. The path to godly living is not complicated. Neither is the will of God a big secret.
This passage tells us the will of God is proven by simply renewing our minds by God’s Word. “Mind your head.” Take the responsibility to control what you dwell on in your mind.
Don’t let offences, strife, and selfish thoughts rent space between your ears.
Philippians 4:8 shares some of God’s ways and thoughts we are to use to screen out bad thoughts in our minds. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”
Thoughts that do not line up with the things mentioned in this verse must be cast down from our thought life and replaced with God’s Word. This is Jesus’ way to a successful life in Him.
Mind your head. Think about it!
