EPHESIANS 4:23

“and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,” 

To be renewed, to be refreshed! Don’t you love the feel of a nice, hot (or cold) shower? I was out working in my yard recently very early to avoid the heat of the day. I was putting dirt and mulch in a flower bed we have in the front of our house. Let me tell you, even though it wasn’t a big job, when I got through, I was in desperate need of a shower. I was hot, sweaty and filthy. I needed to be renewed. That shower did the trick.

Paul uses a word translated as “renewed” that is only used right here in the New Testament. It’s the Greek word ananeoó, which comes from aná (up, completing a process) which intensifies néos (recent, new). HELPS Word studies defines it as “going up to a higher stage (level of sanctification) by God’s power; divinely renewed.” Paul is telling the Ephesian believers and us that God has the power to renew our minds.

APPLICATION

I had a phone conversation with a friend of mine this week who has struggled with pornography for years. He was anxious to tell me that the Lord had set him free from this addiction. He described it as being renewed. He feels fresh and clean because his mind has been renewed spiritually. He had tried for years to quit this horrible habit. Finally, after surrendering his mind to Christ, he has been set free. Praise the Lord!

This renewal is comparable to what Jesus said in John 3:3. “Jesus responded and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” Being born again is a renewal of your whole self, your body, mind and spirit. I still remember how I felt when I came to Christ back in July 1977. I was renewed and set free.

There is a laundry detergent that advertises its long lasting fragrance. It claims you can smell it days after washing. I had much rather have the fragrance of Christ on me through the renewal of my mind. It is an eternal renewal. Are you walking in the fragrance of Christ today? Come to Him. Let Him renew your mind today.

I am so thankful, Lord, that You can renew me day after day. Your compassion is new every day.