By David Faust
What is on your mind most of the time? To be honest, I spend a lot of time thinking about food. Before criticizing me, ask yourself, How often do I think about my next meal?
Frustrations often fill my mind. Politicians aggravate me, TV news irritates me, and friends sometimes disappoint me. Traffic delays, supply chain problems, worker shortages, and petty bickering wear me out. I even get frustrated with myself.
Family members are constantly on my mind. Every day I think about my wife, my adult children, and my grandchildren.
I think about finances a lot, too. I try not to grumble, but sometimes I complain about the cost of living and the price of gasoline. Economic inflation leads to emotional deflation.
And I wonder about the future. What will the world be like for my grandchildren? What will America be like 20 or 30 years from now? Will churches be strong? Will Christian leaders be faithful, and will they model grace and truth?
If you think about things like food, frustrations, family, finances, and the future, you are not alone. It’s natural and necessary to ponder subjects like these. But let’s not forget about faith!
A Piece of God’s Mind
The longest book of the Bible begins by pronouncing a blessing on the person of faith “whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:2). Since that principle was true of God’s Old Testament law, imagine how many more blessings are available in this New Testament age “for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
The Bible is like a GPS that guides us in the right direction. It’s a filter to help us separate wisdom from foolishness, truth from falsehood, good from bad. It’s a bright flashlight when we’re hiking down a dark path. It’s a surgical scalpel the Great Physician uses to cut away the cancer of sin. The gospel is like a seed planted in our hearts, and God’s Word is like fertilizer that helps the seed grow and bear fruit, pushing our spiritual roots deeper until we become “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:3).
More than giving others a piece of our mind, we need a piece of the Creator’s mind.
Peace of Mind
The written Word provides a God-breathed frame of reference for all those other things we think about. Food? God gives us our daily bread. Frustrations? Cast all your cares on him. Family? The Scriptures reveal how to love a spouse, honor parents, raise children, and build lasting friendships. Finances? The Bible has much to say about money management, contentment, generosity, and caring for the poor. The future? “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16), and Christ urges us to plan and prepare but not to worry and fret.
The apostle Paul advised, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). By meditating on Scripture, you can get a piece of God’s mind. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Personal Challenge: List the things you think about during an ordinary day. What do the Scriptures say about these topics? How can you increase the amount of time you spend meditating on God’s Word?
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