Discover Your Soul's Path to GodEsimerkki

It is difficult for some enthusiasts and contemplatives to understand how powerfully some of us can be drawn to the Lord through a stimulated mind. When intellectuals’ minds are awakened, when they understand something new about God or his ways with his children, then their adoration is unleashed. Being an intellectual has nothing to do with IQ. It has to do with engaging your mind as a part of worship of God and growing in Christ. 

Many of the books in the New Testament (the letters of John, Galatians, and Jude, for example) make especially strong contentions for right thinking as well as right living. Intellectuals remind us of the high calling of loving God with our mind. The Bible is emphatic that our mind is one of the key elements in the love we show for God. Jesus understood that the mind, as well as the heart, had to be transformed (see Mark 12:30). 

Throughout the ages, and indeed throughout Scripture itself, the proclamation of God’s Word is given high priority as an essential component in waging war against the powers of darkness. Right thinking—conforming our thoughts to the thoughts of God—supports and encourages right living. Are we earnestly seeking to chase out all our wrong notions of God and offer up to him a mind that has been fully redeemed? Ninety percent of the difficulty in the Christian life is caused because we don’t understand the Scriptures well enough.

If you think you may be an intellectual in your spiritual temperament, begin reading Scripture daily. Even if you’re not an intellectual, daily Scripture reading should be a part of every Christian’s life. Christians should also be actively and increasingly engaged in social issues, not only for our own benefit but for the benefit of society as a whole. Christians are faced with ethical questions on a daily basis, so it is important that we understand Scripture and God’s will on different matters, and are able to present the Christian faith to our culture in an effective manner. 

What we believe about God will affect how we serve him and how we treat him. Today’s intellectuals serve God by explaining what the Christian faith is and what the Christian faith means. We have as much time as God gives us on this earth to begin handing our minds over, bit by bit, to the truth of God. This won’t happen by accident. Thankfully, we have a great teacher, the Holy Spirit, and a reliable and authoritative group of teachings, the Bible, to help us accomplish this aim. Add to that interaction with other Christians and your faith will grow and your understanding of what you believe will be honed. 

The mark of a Christian is love and grace, and as we build our intellect we also need to build these. Avoid prideful displays of knowledge, don’t neglect to bring your life into conformity with your understanding, and humbly use your mind to serve the church, not exalt yourself. 

It is impossible to learn something about God and not grow closer to him. By expanding your understanding of God and his Word, you are seeking his face. This is worship.

Respond

What wrong notions of God have you held in the past? 

Who in your life can help you grow in your knowledge of God’s Word?

How can you share what you are learning about God with the people God brings into your life?