Transformation or renewal of the mind is very important in the total growth and development of a believer. We could see in the story of the Nation of Israel in Egypt; when they began to grow/increase in number in the land of Egypt; Pharaoh did not like that fact and so he wanted to change their status so they don’t take over the land of Egypt. Pharaoh knew in his heart that they were greater and mightier than his people so he needed a way to subdue people he knew evidently were mightier than his people. He needed to turn them to subservient individuals. So the question was how will he turn or change men that carry greater treasure and greater intellectual capacity to become subservient men. The principle to achieve such a result is the same principle that democracies in western nations use in their political parties or in their mass mobilization to make people vote in a particular way. This means that they know that if they put these principles into operation, people are more likely to respond to it because it is an internal programming of the mind. This was the same principle Adolph Hitler discovered and he used it in generating the world war.

Pharaoh discovered this principle and that was what he used to control the children of Israel. He knew that once the principle was in operation the children of Israel will never see themselves the same way again. That was why even when God saved them from the hand of Pharaoh with all the signs and wonders they witnessed it did not affect or change anything on the inside of them. This is the same way habits are built into people and unless people understand this principle, they will find it difficult to break any habit even though they are good Christians and love God. This is what Paul meant when he said, “that which I want to do I find not, and that which I do not want to do, I find that I do those things, that to will is present but how to perform I find not”. This means anytime I want to do something, I find another law at work in my members bringing me into captivity. If you think about it, it is quite hard to understand how people fed with manna from heaven or who are led by a man who spoke to a rock that gushed rivers of water out still want to go back into bondage. This is because Pharaoh had done something demonic to them; he said, let us make these people fetchers of water and hewers of wood. What he meant was that he wants to change what is going on within their environment and recondition their souls and minds. Once they become fetchers of water, hewers of wood and subservient to them; after some time, they will forget who they really are and start responding to what is really going on within their environment. This means that you can regulate people’s space or environment in a certain way and eventually you will be able to govern their heart. To the extent that they will always be enslaved to you even at the biggest moment of their life and even when they get the biggest opportunity they will still have to call upon you to help them take that moment. They will always be dependent upon you based on how you have controlled their environment.

That is why we must understand how to go beyond our environment and move away from people that might want to use or control us. This is what the scripture means when it says, ‘do not be conformed to this world’. This means don’t let this world squeeze you into its mode and mould you into what you’re not instead be transformed by the renewal of your mind. The word transformed means allow what is on the inside of you to come out by the renewing your mind constantly. Therefore, in order for the greater one on the inside of you to be seen on the outside your mind has to be renewed. This means you must take definite steps to renew your mind daily so that what is on the inside can come out. For instance you can be the righteousness of God on the inside, born in righteousness and true holiness but the environment might control or squeeze you into its mode. But unless you understand how to renew your mind then who you are on the inside and what you ought to be in life might not just show up. So it’s very important you understand how to renew your mind because Pharaoh did this to the nation of Israel and that generation had to die; they just couldn’t survive it. It was a new generation that never lived under the bondage of pharaoh that made it into the Promised Land. So be careful with who and what you let into your heart because your mind is the starting point to any real or tangible transformation.

‘Pastor Poju Oyemade