Make Up Your Mind

Theme: Let’s determine to set our minds on things above.

Text: Colossians 3:2 

Here’s a thought: A.W. Tozer explained, “Repentance isn’t only sorrow for past sins, it’s also a determination to now do the will of God as He reveals it to us.” 

Ever wonder why there’s a bull in “bulldog?” This dog’s broad, sturdy jaw isn’t merely a coincidence. A cross between a mastiff and a terrier, the English Bulldog was bred for fighting … specifically, for a sport known as “bull baiting.” In the 1600s, English spectators placed wagers as several dogs were set onto a tethered [or tied] bull. The dog that successfully grabbed the bull by its nose and pinned it down was proclaimed the winner. Without extreme determination, many of the dogs would die in violent competition (from “Conjuring Up Your English Bulldog Determination” at https://thefoundryyoga.com/blog/2012/05/04/conjuring-up-your-english-bulldog-determination). 

The bulldog has a longstanding association with British culture; the BBC wrote (“English Bulldog health problems prompt cross-breeding call,” December 12th, 2016), “To many, the bulldog is a national icon, symbolizing pluck [courage] and determination.” During the Second World War, people likened Prime Minister Winston Churchill to a bulldog for his defiance of Nazi Germany. He inspired a nation and its allies in a dark moment with his famous declaration, “Never, never, never give up!” 

The Apostle Paul writes with such resolution and determination in Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” NIV 

The Amplified Bible translates this verse as, “And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.” In other words, we are to set our minds and keep them set like a bulldog on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. 

We set our minds on things above when we: 

Recognize 

A young man reported, “Today, a girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club. But I never met herbivore.” 

While navel-gazing can prevent us from looking out and moving forward, self-awareness is helpful. Much like taking inventory of how we spend our time and money, we should occasionally pause to monitor our thoughts. Who and what do we think about? Do our thoughts limit God’s work in us and through us, or do they give Him every opportunity to speak and move? Do our thoughts produce worry, anxiety and acts of a sinful nature or love, joy, peace and other fruit of the Spirit? 

Cockroaches and rodents love the darkness but scatter when we enter a room and turn on the light. Similarly, God calls us to come out of the night with our thoughts, words and actions and to walk in His light. We are to recognize our ungodly, sensual thoughts so we can walk by faith and not by sight (or any of our five physical senses). When we allow the light of God’s Spirit and God’s Word to shine into our minds, He exposes our thoughts for what they are. We can recognize what is of Him and what is not. How do we come out of the darkness of our thoughts and into the light of God’s Spirit and God’s Word? 

The Apostle John explains in 1 John 1:5-10: 

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. NIV 

The word “confess” comes from another Greek compound word, homologeo. “Homo” is “same,” and “logeo” is “say” or “speak.” Logos is a related Greek word which means “word.” Homologeo is to “say the same thing,” and in this case, to say the same thing about sin as God says about sin, to agree with Him about sin. 

What do you think about? Are you thinking and speaking God’s thoughts, human thoughts or even demonic thoughts? What do you say to yourself and the people around you? 

We set our minds on things above when we: 

Recognize 

Repent 

Recognizing and confessing sin leaves us with a choice – will we justify it, tolerate it or forsake it? Confession and repentance are separate but complimentary actions, so the terms are not interchangeable. To confess or say the same as God says about sin should lead to repentance, where we change our minds and ways. If we confess sins and return to them as a dog returns to its vomit and a washed sow returns to her wallowing in the mud (2 Peter 2:22), we continue to be enslaved by it. We should identify (not justify) sin and turn from it. 

Repentance comes from a Greek compound word, metanoia. “Meta” means “another,” and “noia” comes from the Greek word for mind, “nous.” To repent is to have another mind or to change one’s mind (e.g., Luke 13:5, Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19). 

American pastor and author A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) explained, “Repentance isn’t only sorrow for past sins, it’s also a determination to now do the will of God as He reveals it to us.” 

When we call sin what it is by recognizing or confessing it as evil, then understand how grieved our holy God is by sin and share His disgust toward it by repenting of it, we can begin renewing our minds with God’s truth. Jesus promises in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” NIV 

We should not be messing around with the same sins, bad habits and addictions year after year, decade after decade. We have all had to deal with inner hurts, hardships and handicaps, but let’s not settle for letting their effects cripple us for the rest of our lives. Read on in John 8:34-36: 

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to 

it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” NIV 

We might confess, “I’m just an impatient person, I have a short temper, I am a worrier, or I am too weak to resist the temptation of ___________.” When we resign ourselves to defeat, we limit God’s work in us and through us. We end up living by sight, not by faith. We can slog through life as if it is a swamp. We are not to live under curses but blessings. The Lord does not want us to live with a posture of defeat! We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37)! 

James 1:8 explains that a double-minded person is unstable in all he does. We feel stuck when we can’t decide about something or someone. Such indecision causes us to stutter in our speech and our steps. When we do not make up our minds, we can suffer paralysis from analysis when we face so many distractions and temptations. With the light of God’s Word and His Spirit, our next step is made clear, and we can be bold and decisive. 

How would we complete this statement about ourselves, “I am ...” If we agree with God and describe ourselves in Biblical ways, please continue. If we disagree with God and define ourselves unbiblically, we must repent. 

We set our minds on things above when we: 

Recognize 

Repent 

Renew 

Have you heard about the new broom? It’s sweeping the nation. 

Paul explains in Colossians 3:2 that we have only two options to occupy our brains – things above or earthly things. God’s kingdom is otherworldly, higher than our thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Earthly things include our human reasoning and even demonic forces that roam throughout the earth. Renewal in our thoughts and minds comes not by reason but by revelation. 

Jesus asked His disciples in Matthew 16 what people were saying about Him. Then He asked what they thought about Him. Peter declared in verse 16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” Simon Peter saw the same miracles and heard the words from 

Jesus that others saw and heard, but he reached a different conclusion. While others thought that Jesus could be John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets, Peter established that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

The conversation continues in Matthew 16:21-23: 

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” NIV 

One minute Peter receives a revelation from heaven, and the next minute he blurts out thoughts from Satan and men! We position ourselves to hear from the Lord as we spend time with Him and His word. Unfortunately, we can still mishear Him or hear other voices. Beware of thinking we are infallible or perfect, lest we become proud and fall on our faces. 

We can fill our heads with information, but transformation comes through revelation. The evangelist John Wesley (1703-1791) testified: 

When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me. 

While the world would love to squeeze us into its mould, we can be dramatically different. The Apostle Paul counsels in Romans 12:2-3: 

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. NIV 

The Spirit and Word of God renew our minds and transform us. This process is much like a caterpillar’s metamorphosis to become a butterfly. It is not instant but gradual as we make up our minds to walk with the Lord every day. As we set our minds on things above, He makes all things new within us. His ways become our ways, His thoughts become our thoughts, and His will becomes our will. 

What adjustments do you need to make to provide spaces in your daily life for the Spirit and the Word to renew your mind? 

When Brenda and I moved to Lethbridge in 1994 and bought a house there, someone advised me to finish the needed renovations in the basement as soon as possible. The reason is that homeowners tend to overlook unfinished portions of their houses and the parts that need repair as time goes by. Living amid disarray grows more comfortable as we see it day after day. The same is true as the years go by in our lives. We see the unfinished business in us and around us and grow less concerned about it as we get used to living with it. I have heard that young people tend to be idealists while older people tend to be realists. However, I know some older people who have stubbornly held on to their ideals and dreams. I applaud those who have, and I am determined to follow their example. I refuse to give up on my ideals and dreams. 

We set our minds on things above when we: 

Recognize 

Repent 

Renew 

Let’s determine to set our minds on things above