Being Vessels of Honor – Renew the Mind, Surrender the Will

Last week, we learned how vital renewing our minds is in our walk with the Lord. This week let’s take a look at Romans 12:2, which reads, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Not only does the writer express the importance of renewing our minds but he also emphasizes the significance of surrendering our will in our efforts to be vessels of honor.   

For many of us, the concept of renewing the mind is much easier to comprehend than the surrendering of the will. Our bodies act out sin – our minds control our bodies – our bodies control our minds. When we surrender our will, His will becomes our goal. In Luke 22:42, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” It is a prayer of surrender to the Father’s will. In the same way, when we surrender our will and pray, we honor God with our lives and so, become vessels of honor who are useful to the Lord. 

In 1 Peter 2:9, Peter reminds us as believers of who we are and what we are called to do when he writes, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” As useful members of God’s kingdom (vessels of honor), we will get the enemy’s attention and he will attack because we are a threat to his plans to keep the world in darkness.

The good news is we belong to God and nothing the enemy does can change that! As we renew our minds and surrender our wills, may we keep in mind the coming enemy attacks which often come as temptation to sin. May we also remember that temptation is not from God but from the enemies of God – Satan and his demons – and we can rest in the promise of 1 John 4:4, “He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world” and stand against temptation.