Maggie is three years old. She loves to play tea party. This afternoon she set up her tea set, got Mr. Bear in his place, Miss Betty in hers with a place for herself and daddy still at her little table. Mommy was really busy cleaning up after dinner and couldn't help, but Maggie wanted it to be just right for her and daddy's special time. She had just the right idea--she knew how she could get everything all by herself.
Finally she had it all ready so she ran into the living room to get daddy to come to tea. Daddy came in and sat on a very small chair after helping Maggie sit properly in hers. Daddy never minded that his knees were higher than the table in Maggie's playroom. Daddy's never minded things like that. Daddy greeted Mr. Bear and Miss Betty, then picked up his teacup. Pretending to take a sip he was surprised that there was actually something in his cup. Maggie preened. She was so pleased.
"Did mommy help you get tea for our party, honey?"
"No Daddy, I got it all by myself."
"Did you grow really tall while I was away at work today? Only this morning I had to lift you up to reach the sink so you could wash your hands."
"Silly daddy, I couldn't grow that much just today."
"So how did you get the tea for our tea party?"
"I thought and I thought, then I remembered the toilet is just the right size for me to reach the water!"
Now, I'm not saying we need to renew our mind by reaching into the toilet--quite the opposite, in fact. Actually, have you ever noticed how we're at different levels of growth at different times in our life? And if we were to compare ourselves to another person at approximately the same place in life we would see, if we looked deeply, that we each learn different lessons at different times. Sometimes you're at the sink level in one area, while I'm still at the toilet level and sometimes it's vice versa--you're at the toilet level and I'm at the sink. Which is a good reason for not comparing to one another.
But, while we always have the opportunity to keep growing it is easy for our growth to get stunted in one area or another. I have a pattern of thinking that I really want to overcome. It's a long ingrained thinking pattern that has become second nature for me. And it seems those thinking patterns are the most difficult ones in which to be victorious because I'm already in a mind scenario before I even realize I've once again succumbed to the pattern. Just as important as the way I am thinking is that fact that whatever is in the heart/mind eventually comes out. And if I don't like it in my mind I certainly don't want it coming out into the light of day.
What is the cure? Unfortunately, it's not as easy as take a pill and feel better in 24 hours, but there is an answer. It's in the preceding verse, which tells us to offer (make a decisive decision) our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.
According to vocabulary.com a sacrifice is a loss or something you give up, usually for the sake of a better cause. So, I lose myself (and those ingrained thought patterns) to gain a renewed mind--to be able to think good, pleasing God thoughts. It's a daily, sometimes hourly decision to give up something to gain something much better.
That's why I included feet taking steps in the picture. For each one of us this is a step-by-step process. One which we will never fully complete while on this earth. Mary Poppins is the only "practically perfect in every way" person and that's only in the movie! But this process which takes a lifetime gives us new levels every day. When we graduate from the toilet to the sink in one area we can move on to the next until one day we take that final step and hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Comments