The Priority of a Devoted Mind

from the Series: WHAT DO YOU THINK? by Dr David Jeremiah

Becoming a Christian can be compared to moving to a foreign country where everything including culture, language, and education, is different. The process begins with the mind.

Matthew 22:37 (ESV) 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Matthew 22:39 (ESV) 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Deep within the worldview of the biblical authors, and equally within the minds of the earliest church fathers, was the understanding that to be fully human is to think. To this day we call ourselves a race of Homo sapiens, which means “thinking beings.” This is not simply a scientific classification; it is a spiritual one. We were made in God’s image, and one of the most precious and noble dynamics within that image is the ability to think. It is simply one of the most sacred reflections of the divine image we were created in. It is also foundational to our interaction with God. As God Himself implored through the prophet Isaiah: “Come now, let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18). - Dr. James Emery White, A Mind For God

An Important Question: How Can I Love My God With My Mind?

I. WHEN WE FEED ON GOD’S WORD

Psalm 119:97–100 (ESV) 97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

List of actions (in Psalm 119) that show our engagement with the Word: Walk in it - Seek it - look into it - take heed to it - hide it in your heart - rejoice in it - meditate on it - contemplate it - don’t forget it - strengthen yourself according to it - get the understanding of it - incline your heart to it - be revived in it - be taught from it - consider it - direct your steps according to it - and get understanding from it-

II. WHEN WE FIND GOD’S WISDOM

Proverbs 3:13 (ESV) 13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,

Proverbs 8:11 (ESV) 11 for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

Proverbs 16:16 (ESV) 16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

Proverbs 3:16–18 (ESV) 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.

Beyond knowledge, we need wisdom. Here are some cultural definitions of Wisdom:

“...knowledge using it’s head. “

“...doing the right thing without a precedent.”

“…the ability to take the Word of God an apply it to the situations in life that you face.”

James 1:5 (ESV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

III. WHEN WE FOLLOW GOD’S WILL

Romans 12:2 (ESV) 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 (ESV) 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (ESV) 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

IV. WHEN WE FIGHT GOD’S WAR

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 (ESV) 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

We must see ourselves involved in spiritual warfare. God has enemies and anything that wants to bee above Him should be “thrown down” and every thought should be brought under thee captivity of Christ”. Apparently, Paul wants us to know that the battle begins in our minds.

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Proverbs 16:25 (ESV) 25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

You cannot love God with all of your mind if your mind does not contain things from His Word!