THE DAY I DISCOVERED MY SUPERPOWERS
It began as an ordinary shopping trip to the Winn-Dixie store. As we entered, my dad pointed to the door and commanded, “Open sesame.” It miraculously swung inward. My jaw dropped. Once inside, he pointed at it again, ordering the door to close. Once more it obeyed. My first exposure to automatic doors. It was magical.
But I wondered: Would the magic work for me? Halfway down the produce aisle, I asked dad if I could look at the encyclopedias. As I sprinted to the entrance, I developed amnesia, and detoured to the automatic doors. Exiting into the cold air, I pivoted and stepped on the rubber pad in front of the entryway. I made sure that an adequate audience was approaching to witness my superpowers. I discovered that “open sesame” worked as well for me as for my dad.
I continued going in and out, as customers stood back. My adventure abruptly ended when I stepped inside, and standing in front of me was dad, arms folded, and a look that said, “Wait until we get home.” I didn’t bother to make excuses. When we returned home, my wrist ached from writing fifty times, “I will not lie.” But even that couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm, as I basked in the glory of my newly discovered powers. I dreamed of our next visit to Winn-Dixie.
At the age of seven, automatic doors seemed amazing. But in many ways we all possess the power of automatic doors. Over time, our thought processes become automatic. We can believe the lies of Satan to the point that we default automatically to them. “You’re no good… a slob… stupid… always messing up.” Guess what? That’s how we’ll behave—automatically. Here’s some good news: it’s possible to reprogram the “automatic doors” in our brain and actually create new neuron pathways with our thoughts. What if we began speaking words of victory, instead of defeat; words of life, rather than death. After all, scripture promises that believers are victorious over all things (Romans 8:37).
Romans 12:2 says, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” Ephesians 4:23 tell us to “to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” That’s the secret. Change the way you think. We don’t need a magic door to open our pathway to a new life. God has granted us the power to create our own magic door. “Open sesame!”
Principle: We have the power to change our lives by changing the way we think.
Ponder:
What negative attitudes have I allowed to automatically take hold of my mind?
What specific thoughts to do need to dwell on to move me in a better direction?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Ephesians 4:17-32.
Prayer: “Lord God, thank you for designing me in such a way that my brain can actually create new neuron pathways by my thoughts; that I can change my life by changing the way I think. Help me to use these ‘superpowers’ to glorify you.”
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