Renewing Your Mind, Part 2

What does your morning routine look like?

I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. —Romans 12:1–2

(Ed. Note: Last Week) Yesterday I started this short series with the fact that we live in a toxic world. And that toxicity touches every part of our lives: physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I have personally found that renewing our minds is a daily process. And one of the ways we push back against the toxicity of our world is pursuing transforming habits.

The apostle writes (I paraphrase) “Don’t allow this world to mold you in its likeness; rather be transformed by renewing the way you think.” Develop new habits. Blaze new pathways. This is the life of a disciple. Instead of taking our cues from what we see around us, or on social media, we follow Jesus.

So, although the pathways we develop may be new to us, they are actually very old paths, blazed by the Son of God.

In Part 1, I shared with you some daily habits I’ve developed to optimize our health. Good health takes intentionality. But good health is more than just what you put into your body.

Every day there is a push, all around us, to think and act a certain way. Could be an advertisement, could be a show we see. But usually there is an underlying message to think/act/buy a certain way.

One of the current trends we see is to take something from someone else, that doesn’t belong to them. We see it in smash and grab theft, to walking out of stores with unpaid merchandise.

I was at a garage having our car serviced yesterday and the manager said that they remove all of the keys from the cars in the garage that remain overnight. “In a locked garage?” I wondered out loud. He said “Yeah, thieves are breaking into garages like ours, finding keys in the ignition and driving through the closed garage door.” I thought, “Who does that?!” Welcome to real-life GTA.

Here is another crazy example: when was the last time you saw a show or movie where the main character waited until after they were married to go to bed with each other?

I know. I can’t think of one either. Yet, when I was young, the idea of someone “living together” was the outlier. It was the exception. Now it’s the rule.

Most of us probably won’t be getting our next car by driving it through an auto shop garage door, but the craziest things in our world are becoming normalized through a variety of means/media.

This is why it is so important for us to have God’s wisdom in life. Like the daily habit of good health, we need His wisdom daily to feed and de-toxify our soul.

One of the ways we do that is to take in his word. Scripture gives us wisdom and direction in every area of our lives.

While there are a number of methods to take in God’s word, Let me share with you what I am doing with the CenterPoint Family for this year. We’re calling it The Worship and Wisdom Devotional.

The Worship and Wisdom Devotional

Here is the goal: 5 chapters in the book of Psalms and 1 chapter in the book of Proverbs per day. It is in a simple to follow format. And if you listen through with this guide (below), you’ll complete both books in one month.

Remember: the goal in discipleship isn’t to add more and more things to your life; the goal is to make room for what is important by removing what is toxic. In your life it may be setting aside what is good for what is best.

So, getting back to my morning routine. While I am preparing all of our morning drinks/etc., I am listening to both Psalms and Proverbs on my phone. Five chapters of worship and a chapter of God’s wisdom to give direction.

As I get into my morning, I start out with the link from my Worship and Wisdom Devotional (PDF below). On the Bible Gateway page that comes up, there is an option to listen to the daily reading. I listen to it while I work through my morning routine.

Below is the document if you’d like to join us. The PDF links to each day’s reading. You can also download and keep in your phone/digital device for quick access anywhere.

Reading Through Psalms-Proverbs in a Month NIV DOWNLOAD

If you’re starting in the middle of the month, no worries! Don’t worry about trying to catch up. Simply start the day of the month you’re joining. Since we will read through this each month this year, you will come back around to do the entirety next month and in the weeks to follow.

Worship and God’s Wisdom. Worship is remembering that God is in control and I’m not! I can trust Him for everything that comes into my life. Wisdom is reminding myself of godly principles to navigate life. I can’t think of a better way to start out your day.

Let me know your thoughts on this or if you have any questions. Look forward to hearing from you.

Blessings

Bill Herried is lead pastor at CenterPoint Christian Fellowship in Tacoma, Washington. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, and Master of Divinity from Corban University in Salem, Oregon. He is married to the most extraordinary woman on the planet. Together they have 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren, and he loves a good biryani. Bill invites you to learn more on Your Daily Encouragement

Image by RÜŞTÜ BOZKUŞ from Pixabay