In preparation for our vacation back in June, I’d gotten the car washed and vacuumed and cleaned out of all the stuff that seems to clutter up our cars on a regular basis. Everything was neat and in order as we headed out west on I-10, driving the long, straight, desolate road that stretches to Big Bend. By the time we arrived about six hours later, our car looked nothing like it had when we’d departed. The windshield was covered with bugs and the car was covered with the dust of west Texas. It wasn’t just the outside appearance that had changed…I had two empty Diet Coke cans at my feet along with an empty bag of corn nuts and two Slim Jim wrappers. (I’ll let Debbie confess her own snacking addictions herself.) The car was a mess inside and out.

         I had figured this would be the case, so I wasn’t frustrated by it, but I also wasn’t content to let it stay that way. So, before we left Big Bend to drive up to Santa Fe, I ran the car through the car wash and vacuumed it out again. In just a few short minutes, everything was clean and sparkling again–just like new. (At least for another seven hours or so.)

         My mind is like my car. If I don’t regularly renew it with the truth of God’s Word and the direction of the Holy Spirit, it gets all cluttered up. Stress, conflicts, fatigue, and the constant bombardment of the culture’s influence are like bugs splattered on the windshield of my mind. If I don’t wash them off, I find myself beginning to believe things that are contrary to what God says is true. I’m more easily frustrated, less patient and less aware of what Jesus is doing around me.

         I absolutely need time alone with the Word and the Holy Spirit to renew my mind.  When I wash my mind with the Word, I find the Holy Spirit expanding my capacity for being patient and gentle; I’m less easily annoyed and frustrated. I look more like Jesus. Can you relate to this? If so, what will you do to renew your mind?

On the adventure with you,

Kirk