“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
Romans 8:6 (RSV)
We set our TV and radio channels where we want them, but we seldom think of setting our minds on the best channel. What we allow into our minds does eventually affect us. The shows we watch and the music we listen to, very subtly affects us over time. It doesn’t equate to sin, but it loosens and pulls at our deeper convictions, subtly opening us up to the ways of the flesh and the deceit of our current culture. It requires a conscious effort to set our minds on the Spirit, to control what flows into our mind through the influences all around us. God gives us His Spirit and His truth to bring us life and peace. We cannot afford an opening that allows the flesh in, or the lies of the devil. I found such a difference by controlling what programs or movies I watch and what music I listen to. There’s a battle for our souls, and the devil’s goal is to rob us of our peace, and only we can stay alert and guard our own minds. Scripture seems to teach us that there are only two channel options for our mind, the flesh or the spirit. Paul tells us that Christ has set us free, but we should not use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. The deeds of the flesh are listed as hatred, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfishness, impurity and envy. Sometimes things creep into our minds, and before we know it, our mind is set on that flesh. Once we let something into our mind, it makes a home there. We need to seal the opening.
For two summers in a row, I fought a battle with houseflies. There were swarms of them in my basement, and when I called an exterminator, they said they don’t come out for flies, but they advised me to find the dead animal that had to be somewhere in my basement, since that is what draws flies in large amounts. My neighbor walked through the basement with me and we could not smell or see anything dead, so I bought fly bait and swept away dead flies all summer long. This went on for two years. Last year a mouse ran out of my dryer vent and I thought, now what? Flies, mice, what’s next, the ten plagues? I called an exterminator for a mouse inspection and they found three openings in my basement that allowed mice in, and they even found a few dead mice behind an exterior wall in my basement. That solved the mystery of the dead bodies attracting the flies. They sealed all the holes, cleaned and sanitized everything and no mice or flies ever returned.
Critters of all kinds will creep into openings in our home, if we leave unsealed openings, the same way the devil creeps into our thought life. Just as it takes something dead to attract flies, the devil tries to place his dead, fleshly thoughts into our minds. Even sadness, depression, and self pity is an unsealed opening for his ideas to enter and take over.
It can turn a small opening into a major captivity of depression. We block every opening and keep his thoughts out, if we fill our minds with whatever is godly, with Christian TV, Christian radio, books, tapes and scriptures, and seal our minds with the Spirit, and giving no opportunity for the flesh.
Lord, sanctify our minds today, and lead us to fill ourselves with good things that nourish our spirit and not our flesh. Holy Spirit, guard our minds with your peace and fill us with more of you. Amen