Guarding your mind

| Sermon Thought by PKD Lee |

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Phil 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We guard our minds by proving what is acceptable and what is the perfect will of God for us. But Philippians 4:7 gives us another formula – cast all your cares on Jesus and you will guard your heart and mind. How does that work? Why does that guard my mind?

Rom 12:2 said that we need to guard our mind so that it does not get conformed to the world’s pattern of thinking. What is the world’s pattern of thinking? The world’s pattern of thinking is to run after the things of the world, and as we do so, the world gets control of us.

We lose peace of mind as we realise that there are many things we do not have. It could be material like money, or mental like a reputation or emotional like things you love or like. The pursuit of these things take over our life and more importantly, our mind. It consumes our mind, as we spend most of our waking thoughts on these things.

By ceasing to run after the world, we break this sequence. We leave our needs for the world in God’s hand and cease worrying about it, as Paul challenges us in Phil 4:7.

Then what do we run after? The kingdom of God, and we see all our actions in this world – our profession, our shopping expeditions, our leisure as means of fulfilling the purposes of the kingdom of God and not as means of obtaining the world for ourselves.

As we streamline our life for the kingdom of God, our mind gets strengthened and protected. Is your mind guarded from the world?