Using Our Brains
Before I get into the meat of my post, I would like to make sure that everyone understands my position on "head knowledge". People who know me - and regular readers, you are probably getting to know me - know how much of an importance that I place on regular daily bible reading. Please, please, do not take my dedication to "preaching" about regular bible reading as my taking a legalistic approach to the discipline of daily quiet time. Christianity that is solely based on checking daily tasks off of a list will not get anyone very far. However, without the discipline taking place first, we will never get to the point of a change of heart, causing us to love God's word enough to apply it to our lives and allowing us to be filled with God's love to share to others. Now....on to the post.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 that we should love God with all of our heart, soul and mind. To me, the heart and soul part are the easiest things to understand and probably the hardest to do. But what about the mind? How do we love God with our minds? My first thought would be that we need to make sure that our thoughts our pure, taking every thought captive to what God would have us to think, thinking on the pure, honest and true (2 Cor 10:5, Phil 4:8).
But then, I read about how much God wants us to know Him and how much He delights in it. (Jer 9:23-24). I read about how we blessed we are who delight in His word (Psalm 1:1-3) and how through it is the only way we can achieve success according to God in Joshua 1:8. What brought this on, you may ask? Well, in my reading this morning in 2 Peter 1 (KJV), I see that the word "knowledge" is mentioned 5 times in the chapter and the word "knowing" is mentioned twice. Isn't the act of "knowing" associated with our minds as well as "knowledge"? Paul is often concerned, as he his in his letter to Peter, about the Christians being led astray by false teachers. The best way to not be deceived either by our own minds and feelings or by others is by knowing the Truth so well that we can spot a counterfeit immediately.
So, my friends, my question today is: Are we using our minds for God? Do we study our bibles or do we just read them? Do we not read them at all maybe, because we are relying on our past knowledge? Or do we think that we can come to God without the knowledge of Him just because we already have that warm and fuzzy "spiritual" feeling? If we neglect this portion of our love for God, we may wind up in serious trouble! Feelings change and knowledge fades, but the written Word of God remains forever.
I know, we've all been to school at one time in our lives. Studying may not be that fun. But the benefits are tremendous. If we study our bibles, really study them with our minds, we can...
- Discover the hidden treasure that God has for us. How can we know and partake in the great and precious promises of God if we don't read about them? (2 Peter 1:4)
- Give an answer or "a word in season" to someone in need. (1 Peter 3:15, Isaiah 50:4) How can we have "the tongue of the learned" if we don't try to learn?
- Keep ourselves from sin. (Psalm 119:11) How can we turn our minds to pure thoughts if we aren't sure what those are?
- Be strong and fight against spiritual warfare. (Eph 6:10-17) How can fight against spiritual attacks, and they are real, if we don't know our "weapon"?
Can anyone see that the possibilities are endless here? I could go on and on....but you'd probably get tired of reading. Anyway, I guarantee that your bible is better reading than this blog! :) Take a few minutes today if you haven't already and see what God has in store for you in His Word. If you ask Him to, I bet He'll show you something cool.
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.