Renewal

Renewal (By David Peterson)

Jesus teaches by the sea and people who came to listen to him are so plentiful that He got into a boat to address them. Jesus tells several parables and includes this one in Mark

Mark 4:21-25:

“And He was saying to them, ‘A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.’”

In a similar report, found in Luke 8:16-18, Jesus is saying that His teaching should not be hidden, or concealed, but it should be widely disseminated by all who know the truth to all who will listen. Those who listen closely will understand more, and be renewed even more by what they hear.

Eddie Rasnake is a Baptist minister who wrote the following about renewal: “To ‘be renewed in the spirit of your mind’ is not a point of enlightenment, but rather a continual process or gaining God’s

perspective through meditating on His Word … As the great evangelist D. L. Moody used to say, ‘The only way to keep a broken vessel full is to keep the faucet running.’”

Rasnake is saying that to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, a quote from Ephesians 4:23, we enter into a continual renewal, or a

continual feeding of the Word, for the rest of our earthly lives.

Psalm 51 provides inspiration for the hymn “Create in Me a Clean Heart” by Keith Green. The first stanza and chorus are:

Create in me a clean heart, oh God

And renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart, oh God

And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord

And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation

And renew a right spirit within me

Green uses Psalm 51:10-12 to remind us that our source of joy and spirit come from God and the renewal by the Holy Spirit restores us.

Let us pray: Jesus, our Lord of Salvation, continue to feed us with your living Word and renew us continually with your Truth. We desire clean hearts and right spirits and your presence as we live out our days. Amen