That's it, my mind is made up!"......

     " That's it, my mind is made up!"' how often have you heard that phrase?  Or possibly the accompanying phrase, " Oh, they are just set in their ways!".  Probably, too often.  They are used by, and spoken of, those people who will not, or simply refuse to change.  People who have come to accept a certain rigid mindset.  In a cosmos where our thinking filters how we see the world, ourselves, and others; a mindset seems to be a either a potent weapon for change or a handicap which can hobble us from living victoriously.
     There is an old Keith Green song that I just love.  One that casts a somewhat farcical view on such matters.  It is called , " So, you wanna go back to Egypt?".

     In this somewhat mocking composition, he presents the children of Israel as living in delusion.  They are musing about how good they had it while they were living in slavery and bondage.  They seemingly negate the daily goodness of God, while he is walking them through a quick maturing process while in the Wilderness.  It is God's variation of shock and awe. And they were not living up to their fullest potential because they still had the old mindset of a slave.

     In slavery, they had food, shelter, and clothing.  In the desert, they had food ( manna), they had shelter ( a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night), and they had clothing ( that simply never wore out!).  In slavery, they had harsh overseers, taskmasters, and huge work project to accomplish.  In the desert, they had overseers( Moses and Aaron), taskmasters ( self governing tribal leadership), and they had huge work projects to accomplish ( gathering the manna, worshipping God, and getting 1.3 million people across the desert in 40 days).  In Egypt, they had to obey the voice of Pharaoh.  In the Wilderness, they had to obey the voice of God.  In Egypt they had supernatural deliverance.  In the Desert, they had supernatural provision.

     But, between all of these contrasts and comparisons, they had one thing that obviously didn't dramatically change.  It was their mindset.  They still retained the mind of a slave.  In the face of daily signs and wonders, in the end it was their mindsets that sentenced them to having to wander the Wilderness for 40 years.  They could simply not overcome a lifetime of what was, to obtain the reality of what is!  God had changed their environment.  But, they had refused to transform their minds in the light of their new reality.  This is why the Word says that we are to be " transformed by the renewing of your mind". ( Romans 12:2)
     We, like the children of Israel, were born slaves into another kingdom.  But, if you are saved in Jesus you are now in the Kingdom of Heaven. The whole salvation transformation goes way beyond just raising your hand, saying a prayer, regularly attending church, and following some rules and regulations for moral conduct.  Most civic organizations will ask you to do pretty close to  the same thing.  God has called his citizens to be transformed.
     If you really want to get a handle on this scripture, the word in Romans 12:2 translated transformation is the exact same word that is translated as transfiguration in Matthew 17:2.  It is metamorphosis.  Literally, to breakthrough a wall/ barrier and transition.  On the Mount of Transfiguration ( Transformation), Jesus didn't just become a better person.  He was like a butterfly, momentarily transformed.
      The Word encourages us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  This is not Dr. Phil semi-religious psycho-babble, but instead a truth that leads to victory both now, and in the hereafter.  As, Christians, not only do our hearts need to change but so do our minds.  Let's put it this way, as a faithful follower of Christ, our minds cannot think, reason,or believe the same way that they did from the day that we were saved until now.  In, fact, the two should be two very different blobs of grey matter.  If not, we will fall prey to dying off in the desert of life as opposed to inheriting the Promised Land.
     In the face of the daily supernatural care, provision, and guidance of God in the Wilderness, the first generation of freed Hebrew slaves in 400 years, blew it because of a brainfreeze.  They still had a victim mentality.  The hopes, trust, and aspirations of a slave.  It reminds me of the stories that you hear of people who after losing an amazing amount of weight, get toned, and buffed; yet look in the mirror each day to still see a fat person.  Mind sets kill!
     But, we don't have to live that way any  longer, if you choose.  BE TRANSFORMED, by the renewing ( renovation,the rising up in freshness of Heaven, the gaining of God's perspective of your status change) of your mind.  The Promised Land is yours to gain!