Make Up Your Mind
“Ok,
Powell. Step up to the plate. First you say that stupid people talk
about things; smarter people talk about people, intelligent people talk about
ideas. Then you say, we must abandon our thoughts and learn what God
thinks. Make up your mind." OK, fair enough.
When
we come right down to it, the Lord Jesus Christ exemplified everything that we
are to be, both in this world and in the next. We are not saved by
"Doing what Jesus did," because we can never do what He did. We
are saved because of what He did for us: coming into the world as our mediator,
living a perfect life in our place, dying in our place, rising into Heaven to
intercede with the Father in our place, and sending us the Holy Spirit to guide
and teach us and make sure we get to Heaven, working faith in us to overcome
all things in His blessed Name.
But we
ARE predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ and we can learn a very
great deal about how we are to think and how we are to live our lives by
observing how He pleased His Father in all things. We will never get the
Law right until we observe it being obeyed in the flesh of Jesus Christ, the
Son of Man, who did everything that God required of man, loving Him with all
His heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Yes,
Jesus spoke of things: lilies of the field, grass, dust, vultures, cattle,
sheep, stars, sun, light, salt, prisons, foxes and birds. Yes, Jesus
spoke of people, Herod, John the Baptist, Caesar, Judas, Mary Magdalene,
thieves, publicans, Pharisees, Sadducees, shepherds, farmers, women, and
children. Yes, Jesus thought His thoughts, spoke His thoughts, wept His
thoughts, prayed His thoughts, and defended His
thoughts.
But
here is the difference. When Jesus spoke of vultures, he also THOUGHT
about vultures. He knew that vultures went where dead things were and
cleaned up the mess. He THOUGHT about vultures. If God sends
vultures to clean up dead carcasses, what will He do if a city is dead in
unbelief, wickedness, hatred and murder? Does God have vultures to clean
up the mess? "Yes," said the Lord Jesus, "where the carcass is,
there the vultures will be gathered together." That's why He wept
over Jerusalem. He knew the vultures were coming. He not only
thought about things and people, He knew what His Father thought about
them. That's why He wept.
When
people really begin to think, the things, the people, and God become related in
their minds. Lilies are not just lilies anymore. Stars are
not just stars. Sheep are not just sheep. Everything in the earth
is related to people and the people are related to God. The heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. Reveal
God to whom? to people. A cup of cold water
reveals not only the kindness of the person giving it, who cared enough about
my suffering in the heat of the day as to draw cold water from the well, but in
that act models the love and grace of God who will "pour water on him that
is thirsty."
The
little puppy is not just a nuisance that wets on the rug; he become an adorable
little plaything that shows that God delights in men and desires to give them
pleasure. Why else did He create puppies and peacocks? He delights
in seeing our delight in His gifts, just as we delight in seeing our children's
pleasure when they open their birthday gifts. He is immensely pleased
when run to Him and say, "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" instead
of running off to play with our new baubles without any THOUGHT about them or
Him, or even our little brother who could have some fun too, if we were not so
selfish. How horrible it is, not only to not be thoughtful of people, but
not to have God in our thoughts. Or worse, only think of people for what
use they can be to us; or worst of all, to think we can manipulate God to serve
our selfishness, as if our life consisted of the things we possess and the
people that serve us. Shame, shame, shame on all of us.
If we wept for ourselves, then we would delight Jesus more, perhaps.
But
the whirlwinds and the thieves in the night and the vultures teach that there
is more to God than puppies and peacocks. As the poet
said about the Tyger: "Did He who made the
Lamb make thee?" That was when the poet's innocence had been
replaced by experience and had THOUGHT about tigers. But people don't
think and write poetry nowadays: they feel and write gibberish.
But
our thoughts are so selfish and centered on ourselves that the only remedy is
to abandon every one of them, and be renewed in our minds, to think the
thoughts of God. In so doing, we find our true selves in Christ and our
inward thoughts, instead of being repulsive to God we can become a delight to
Him, because He sees the image of His Son in us, for He is the Wisdom and Word
of God.
So
after all, it is the thought, isn't it? Seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all things will be added to you. And, yes, you will
even make your enemies to be at peace with you. Think of THAT!
"Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow. Though they
be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool." But you will have to THINK.
1Pe
1:13 "Wherefore gird up the loins of your
mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
