Mental Drift

Thinking requires discipline. Discipline requires effort. And effort, well, aren’t we looking for ways to reduce effort, and smooth life out? Shouldn’t there be an “automatic” setting when it comes to thinking? 

Oh, but there is. The news will tell you what to think, social media will tell you what to think, politicians will tell you what to think, advertisers will tell you what to think, television and movies tell you what to think, and probably your family and circle of friends will tell you what to think, for starters. Just soak up what others tell you to think, and you won’t have to put any effort into thinking at all. Drift on! So easy to do!

In Peter’s first letter, near the beginning, he says “therefore, gird up the loins of your mind.” (1 Peter 1:13) Now there’s an expression. In so many words, he says “wading through the world we live in requires mental focus. Think for yourself, and don’t let the world we live in, or the circumstances you find yourself in fog the reality of what God has done for you, and what He has in store for you. Think!”

Paul wrote “Do not be conformed to this world.” Don’t let the world think for you. Rather, be transformed. Do your own thinking, allowing God’s truth to transform your perspective.

The most remarkable organ in our bodies is the brain. And each one of our brains operates on its own. I don’t tell you when to blink, you don’t tell me when to breathe. We are each one responsible to think, and we are free to develop that capacity (yeah, that requires effort). When we meditate on God’s Word, and it becomes the filter through which we see life, we don’t form thoughts based on what everyone else is saying. We see it through a transformed mind. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…” (Col. 3:16)

So, let’s gird up. Let’s be transformed through the Word. Let’s think for ourselves, not relying on the opinions of the world. Let’s use the remarkable capacity God has given us, for His honor and glory.

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” — Oscar Wilde