Set Your Mind
Garlic.Dishwasher detergent. Eggs.
Wipes.Snacks. Extra outfit.
Unloaddishwasher. Scoop litter. Pick up toys.
These are the grocery, diaper bag, and to-do lists that area steady stream in my mom brain. As I scurry about the house, I’m alwaysthinking of the next thing (or the next three things) that I need to do.
And as a work-from-home mom, it seems like these lists arenever ending. Laundry, crossed off today’s list, will surely appear ontomorrow’s list. And if I’m not careful, these lists can be an end tothemselves.
It’s easy for me to live my day for theperfectly checked off list, to measure my success by my productivity. And withthis goal in mind, my day revolves around my planner.
But a quote from Rosaria Butterfield’snew book, The Gospel Comes with a HouseKey, made me question my focus on these lists: “My lists are not set instone; they are set in grace.”
“My lists are not set in stone; they are set in grace.” Rosaria Butterfield
I realized that my heart was beginningto love and to find worth in these lists; my identity was defined by my list. Now,lists are a gift of God, I believe. He is a God of order, and He rejoices whenHis children rightly use the organizational tools He created us to have as imagebearers. But I realized I was worshipping my lists. My emotion, my success, andmy attitude all depended on the progress of my list.
Meditation determines worship
How did this come about? I believe,it’s because our worship is determined by our meditation. What rules our mindswill ultimately rule our hearts. I would wake up every day and begin my list:
Makebreakfast. Load dishwasher. Do quiet time.
What rules our minds will ultimately rule our hearts.
At every moment in the day, theselittle lists were in the back of my head, reminding me of my purpose. It toldme my purpose was to get things done. My success was measured by my efficiency.My worth was in my work.
So the good gift of order God gave mebecame an idol in my heart. All because my mind was focused on lists, insteadof God.
When God revealed this idol of myheart, I wondered how I could change. It’s not a vice that can be completelyavoided (going into a grocery store without a list is dangerous business!). Sohow could I replace my love of lists and control with a greater love of God? Bychanging the way we think.
Renewing our minds
What we think about reveals what weworship. That’s why Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that the key to worshippingGod in our everyday lives is to renew our mind:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, whichis your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but betransformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern whatis the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
By changing what we meditate on,we change what we worship. Paul says it a different way in his letter to thechurch at Collosae: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the thingsthat are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set yourminds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians3:1-2).
If we want to seek Christ, wehave to change what we’re thinking. We have to “set” our minds on him.
To set our minds on somethingis not a phrase that is used frequently in our modern conversation. So whatdoes it mean? In this context, it means “todirect one's mind to a thing, to seek, to strive for.” We set our minds onsomething when we intentionally and consistently bring it to mind. Just like inthe morning I would point myself to my planner, I can point myself to the Wordof God.
One way I have practically donethis is to replace my lists of three with a different list repeated throughoutPaul’s epistles: faith, hope, and love. When I’m washing the dishes, changing adiaper, pumping gas, or whatever other mundane tasks where my mind is free, Ithink to myself, “How am I acting in faith in Christ’s sacrifice? How am Ihoping for eternity today? How am I loving God and my neighbors today?”
And as you meditate, God will change your affections and your actions according to His word.
It may not be that verse, butyou can choose today to put aside those things that clutter our mind andmeditate on the words of God. Psalms 119:15 says, “I will meditate on yourprecepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” And as you meditate, God will changeyour affections and your actions according to His word.