In the early 1990’s I was serving as a Regional Vice President for an American Stock Exchange company. Every other week, it was five cities in five days, then back to the beach to recuperate and catch up on paperwork. During that time I would find myself falling asleep between calls with my regional mangers or their sales reps. They smiled and joked about it. I just blew it off until your mother called my attention to a news magazine program on sleep apnea. The program described the symptoms she lived with nightly. A sleep study validated her assumption and I was prescribed a c-pap. I began the struggle of adjusting to sleeping with it and not having mom snuggled up next to me. What happened to me on the second morning of use was truly miraculous. It was like I woke up seeing the world in color instead of black and white. Honest to goodness – I felt as if I had been renewed or reborn. I had energy, could see clearly and felt like I was 15 – 20 years younger. I still marvel at that day.
God wants us to experience more days like that. There will only be a limited number of days for physical prowess and renewal, but there are unlimited possibilities for days of mental and spiritual renewal. The past couple mornings we have talked about resolutions, goals and reality. Today I want to address the unlimited resources we have for renewing our minds. In Romans 12:2 (NLT) it says this: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” The key words are “changing the way you think” or what the NIV states as “renewing our minds.” We live in a fast paced world with information doubling every couple years. We are constantly told to “reinvent ourselves” and keep up with current trends. Some business guru thinks THEY came up with a new idea when God gave this to us through Paul over 2000 years ago. You see we can reinvent ourselves every single morning! All we have to do is choose to do so.
A number of years ago theologian Chuck Swindol coined the phrase: “Life is so daily.” He also has a statement about attitude. Here’s an excerpt: “I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.” Additionally, years ago there was a Stanford University study that stated that a person’s success was 90% attitude and 10% knowledge. Even if the knowledge required in today’s technical society has doubled, it still comes nowhere close to what God can do with you if you have His heart and His attitude to meet the day in front of you.
You know that in all my years of administering tens of thousands of psychological assessments I have seen less than a dozen confirming that a person could not accomplish what they aspired to. You my children have no such excuse. God has given you a sound mind and promised you the desires of your heart – so what are you waiting for? Make your dad AND your Father proud!
Love Dad