Undaunted.Life: A Man's DevotionalSample

MENTAL, Day 6: The Right Instructions There is just something about people heeding your advice and/or instructions… For some men, it shows that people respect their intellect and/or their experience. For other men, this means that they have the power and gravitas to control people in a way that pleases them. Further still, other men avoid situations of influence entirely because they are scared to death of making the wrong call or giving the wrong advice. Part of all this, is the state of being right. We desperately want to be right. We want to know whether to turn left or right or keep going straight. We want to know whether to choose this investment or that investment. We want to be able to have the wisdom-filled answer that is able to help someone with a personal crisis. We want to be able to give the right instructions, but a lot of Christian men tend to want to do this with God as well. There is a tremendous amount of synergy with today’s three verses. In the second chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he makes reference to both an Old Testament scripture and a quote from Jesus. The first part of 1 Corinthians 2:16 says this: “’For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’” (ESV). This references Isaiah 40:13 where the author of that passage challenges the reader to really consider humanity’s influence on God. Essentially, God didn’t have a committee of learned humans help him when he created the cosmos. He didn’t get anyone’s input when placing the planets. He didn’t need help forging the earth. Yet, don’t you catch yourselves telling God what YOU think is best for YOU? We’ll come back to that… The second part of 1 Corinthians 2:16 says this: “But we have the mind of Christ” (ESV). This refers directly to Jesus’s quote found in John 15:15: “…for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” Now, this doesn’t mean that we know everything that God knows. It is impossible to comprehend the mind of God. Paul is reminding us of Jesus’ words to show us that we cannot have the mind of God but that we can be influenced by it. We can have the best parts of the feelings and temperament of our Creator. So, while we may try to convince God that our way will work best or that perhaps he may need our assistance, we should be reminded of the grandeur and totality of God’s influence. We desperately want to always have the right instructions for ourselves and others, and luckily we have the ability to get there. God, through the Holy Spirit, provides us with insight into the mind of God; the source and perfecter of our lives. What do you think drives you to want to always have the right answers? How can you readjust your approach to better tap into the mind of God?