I have been living in Brazil for a while now and I am used to my surroundings now for the most part. The other day I saw a little creature running along the wall around the seminary. Actually, I see these creatures a lot, but the other day I realized that my brain was calling these animals, squirrels. Because, I am accustomed to seeing squirrels in the places I have lived. I started thinking about it and realized that they couldn't be squirrels, because there aren't any squirrels in this part of the world, as far as I know. I was going for a walk and encountered these animals again and realized that the fluffy tailed creatures were nothing else than monkeys. It is funny because I had been lamenting the fact that I had not seen any monkeys recently, although I knew they lived on campus. So my thinking has been altered and my brain informed, so that now when I see these cute little guys I know they are Monkeys!
While thinking about the mind I realized just how important how we think is. I was in error this whole time thinking that Monkeys were Squirrels. This did not cause any problems, nor did it really affect my ability to think correctly about other things. But, there are some things that are more important that we need to think correctly about. That is where the "renewing of your mind" that the Bible talks about comes in. When we were not followers of Christ, or even when we were new believers we probably thought about many things as truth and took things for granted that were in fact errors. We need the Holy Spirits work in our minds and hearts to help us see the truth of the Bible and not see the Bible through our eyes of experience and what we think is truth.
I praise God that He has and is creating in me a renewed mind, and I am reminded often when I read God's word that I need His understanding to remove my old mind and world view, and create a new mind, a new understanding so that I can better know my God.
