I am working my way through Dallas Willard’s book, Renewing the Christian Mind, which was put together after his death by Gary Black, Jr. There is a chapter early in the book called “Living a Transformed Life” that is a deep synopsis of Willard’s thinking on discipleship. In it, Willard described what children of light look like. He described some characteristics of those committed to following Christ.

I wanted to expand a bit on those characteristics, so I will take a few posts to broaden out some of those thoughts.

The basic characteristics:

1. The condition of the thought life
2. The emotional life
3. The deepest motivation
4. The body
5. Their relationships
6. The depth

The first area, the thought life, is incredibly important and has often been my biggest struggle.

1. The condition of the thought life.

Children of light think differently than others around them. We need to consider what we think about. What is on our mind? The simplicity of the matter is this: children of light think about God. They love to dwell on God, thinking of his greatness, his loveliness, how and where they see him in nature and in people around them. 

There was a college professor who was a Bible teacher at a youth camp I attended in high school. He talked about his walk with the Lord and described the closeness of his walk with the Lord. His love for Jesus drew me in. He said if anyone saw him walking around campus with his hand on his hip, it was because he could feel the presence of Jesus just off his elbow. That was how close he wanted to feel Jesus as he walked around the campus. 

Frank Laubach was a missionary who served in the Philippines. His life was spent teaching literacy and giving tools to help people learn to read. His deeper passion was the presence of God. He wanted to turn his thoughts to Jesus every minute of every day. 

In January of 1930 he wrote this in his journal:

For the past few days I have been experimenting in a more complete surrender than ever before. I am taking, by deliberate act of will, enough time from each hour to give God much thought. Yesterday and today I have made a new adventure, which is not easy to express. I am feeling God in each movement, by an act of will — willing that He shall direct these fingers that now strike this typewriter — willing that He shall pour through my steps as I walk — willing that He shall direct my words as I speak, and my very jaws as I eat!

He wanted to carry on in his work while sensing the presence of Jesus as he did so. 

I feel simply carried along each hour, doing my part in a plan which is far beyond myself. This sense of cooperation with God in the little things is what astonishes me. 

In March 1930 he wrote this: 

Every waking moment of the week I have been looking toward Him, with perhaps the exception of an hour or two. How infinitely richer this direct first hand grasping of God Himself is, than the old method which I used and recommended for years, the endless reading of devotional books. Almost it seems to me now that the very Bible cannot be read as a substitute for meeting God soul to soul and face to face.

The children of light think differently. They have careers, they have families, they are not isolated. And while doing their work and play and family duties, they are found deep in the recesses of their minds simply dwelling on the goodness of God. 

They then can turn to anything else that is true, honorable, right, pure, or lovely (Phi. 4:8). The thought life of the children of light is different. 

The mind is to be transformed. The work I put into the formation of my thinking has a huge impact on the rest of my life.