As I entered the house from a tiring day of strenuous manual labor from using a chain saw to trim and cut down trees, my body needed to be renewed. What is true of our physical man is also true of our spiritual man. From time to time, we need to be renewed spiritually. Are you in a spiritual recession and need to be renewed spiritually?
Spiritual recession in our lives is not the end of the world unless we die in that condition. Realizing that we are in a spiritual recession may be the greatest thing that has ever happened to us. If we recognize that we are in a spiritual recession, we can begin to make a conscious effort to be renewed according to truth. When this happens, we can be better off than we have ever been.
In the December 18, 2001, issue of USA Today there was an article entitled, “Bad Times Spawn Great Start-up.” It noted that sixteen of the thirty companies in the DOW began during recession. Walt Disney failed as a movie actor and started his cartoon business in a garage in the recession of 1923-1924. Hewlett-Packard started their business in the depression of 1938. Gates dropped out of college in the recession of 1975 to start Microsoft.
What you do following your spiritual recession is more important than what you did to get in that condition. Since this is the beginning of a new year, it is a perfect time for each of us to think about being renewed spiritually, especially if we feel that we have been in a spiritual recession. God knew that we would need spiritual renewal and therefore spoke of it in several passages.
Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (NASB).
Paul pointed out a contrast in this passage – conformed and transformed. God expects us to transform the world rather than be conformed to the world. Transforming the world will be done only when we are renewed. The difference between being conformed to the world and transforming the world can be illustrated by the difference between a thermostat and a thermometer. A thermometer conforms to its surroundings. On the other hand, a thermostat controls its surroundings. Which best describes you? Do you conform to the world around you or do you control the world around you?
Notice that transformation takes place when one renews his or her mind. No one ever accidentally transformed into a new person. Becoming a new person requires a mind committed to that goal. Where has your mind been the last few months? Was it focused more on the material than the spiritual? Was it focused more on earning a living than making a life? Was your mind focused more on self than on God? It is so easy to let the focus of our mind get away from spiritual matters. When that happens, we begin to be conformed by the world rather than us transforming the world.
If we are ready to get out of our spiritual recession, the first lesson we need to learn is that renewal begins as a conscious effort in the mind. The text tells us that when one’s mind becomes renewed, he or she can then determine what God’s will is for his or her life.
Too often people don’t know which way to go. The reason is, they can’t see God’s will because their mind has not been renewed. When one renews his or her mind, he or she can see that God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. But, looking at the world through an unrenewed mind, one gets confused as to what is good, acceptable, and perfect.
2 Corinthians 4:16
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” This gives the second great principle of renewal. Our inner man must be renewed day by day. Renewal is not a one-time event. The problem with many people is, they want renewal today, but don’t think about renewal tomorrow. That will not bring about transformation of the world, but rather conformity to the world.
The writer went on to tell us how we can be spiritually renewed every day. That will be determined by where our focus is directed. He explained, “while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
In our fast-paced society in which the attitude is dog-eat-dog, in order to stay alive or get ahead, it’s hard to look beyond the physical things this month’s income will buy. But, these things are temporal. Renewal comes day by day when we realize the difference between the temporal and the eternal. Renewal will not come when we put most, or all, of our effort toward obtaining the things for here and now! Renewal will not come from an on-again-off-again attitude toward spiritual things. We must remember that all temporal things will soon be taken to the dump, but the eternal things will never be taken to the dump. So why do we pursue the temporal things with such gusto?
It is because we have forgotten that renewal must be a daily commitment. Many think that renewal is a one-time event. After that one-time renewal is started, we then faltered along the way. We faltered because renewal was not a daily commitment. With daily renewal it enables us to see the difference between the temporal and the eternal. By being renewed daily, we’ll be able, as Paul said, to determine the will of God (Romans 12:1-2).
Ephesians 4:22-24
“In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” The Ephesians needed to be renewed in the spirit of their mind because they were not walking in accordance with the truths they had learned. Often, we get down spiritually because we are not living as we know we should live. So, let’s renew the spirit of our mind and begin living according to the way we have been taught.
Conclusion
If we are in a spiritual recession, what are we going to do about it? If we do not turn it around, we’re in danger of the warning the Hebrew writer gave, “It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame” (6:6). But, if we are concerned about our spiritual condition, we can pray what David prayed when he was in a spiritual renewal. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You” (Psalm 51:10-13).
Wayne Burger