Don't allow others do the thinking for you

Life happens.  It does.  It has its own course of action; its own direction.  It does not wait for anyone.  It moves on.  Almost like rudderless ship in the ocean, its direction is determined by every gale and gust of wind.  Such a ship will either sink or run aground; never to be able to sail again.

As a Pastor, I get to see how people live their lives.  Some have clear direction while others allow the circumstances to toss them around.  Some are determined to make something out of their lives while others are bent on doing the things that will destroy them.  Some have wishful aspirations while others wait for good things to happen.  Very few seem to have a guiding vision and a purpose.  While it’s pleasure to be with the people who know what they are doing and where they are going, but not so pleasurable to be in the company of those who allow life to be like the rudderless ship.

Socrates is often quoted of saying; “if you get a bad wife, you will be a philosopher.”  I am not sure what he would say about the woman who gets a bad husband.  Possibly the same.  The point is; suffering makes a person to think.  But to think or not to think is a choice we all can make.  More often than not, we do not want to think.  Thinking is hard.  It is easy to do manual labor than to use our brain to think.  The prodigal son was wrecking his life until the day he started to think.  The Bible says “he came to his senses” and his life was never the same again.

Even as believers, when we do not use our brain to think, we allow others to dictate our beliefs and shape our behaviors.  Our beliefs and behaviors will in turn determine the kind of life we live.  We shall become what we think.

The Bible reveals God as ‘Logos’.  Logos is thought.  Creation came into existence because of Logos.  This Logos became a living person in Jesus Christ who changed the very thought pattern of the world.  As Christians, we are to have the mind of Christ; the very Logos that created the universe. 

New Testament has a lot to say about how we are to think and how our thinking affects our living.  But for some reasons, theologians, preachers and teachers of the Bible focus so much on the actions and not on thinking.  “Don’t do, don’t see, don’t touch, don’t eat, don’t drink, and don’t go”; so many ‘don’ts’ focus on the actions.  Very seldom do we hear pastors teaching us on why we do the things we do and how to change the behaviors we hate.  Psychologists tell us that thoughts precede actions.  If we can change our thoughts, we can change our lives said the famed psychologist William James.  James’ statement has been proven to be true by countless people around the world for a long time now.  People have seen dramatic change in the quality of their lives after they deliberately decided to change their negative thinking into a positive one.

  

For Christians, the Bible is the fountain of such revelation where we are commanded, persuaded, and even entreated to change our mind from negative to positive, from earthly to heavenly, from fleshly to spiritual, and from natural to supernatural.  Yet, we do not heed.  The non-Christian psychologists and motivational speakers on the other hand have taken these treasures from the Bible and applied them to their lives and are enjoying tremendous benefits.

Unless we come to our senses the way Prodigal son came to his, we will continue to reap the consequences of our non-biblical thinking.  But if we stop and ponder on who God is and what he has done for us, life will not be the same again.  We will not sit with the pigs any longer.  We will get up from that stinky sty and run toward the father who has prepared for us the garment of glory, ring of authority and shoes of awesome responsibility that belong to the son of a father who owns everything.  A life of honor and sufficiency is for those who can change their mind from misery and poverty.  Unless you change your negative thinking into positive, you won’t see positive changes coming into your circumstances or your character.  

Don't allow others to think for you.  Pick up the Bible and align your thinking with the thinking of God and a beautiful life will be yours to enjoy!