Focus: Think, Think, Think! (Pt.2)

Text: Gal.3:1,3

"O FOOLISH Galatians, who hath bewitched you… Are ye so FOOLISH? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh."

Jesus says to two of His disciples, "O FOOLS, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (Lk.24:25).

God made us to be thinking people and He wants us to use our heads. God requires that we renew our mind, not throw it away. Thinking is critical to our existence and wellbeing. God promises to do more than we think, but we have to think first.

*Why not think?

There is critical thinking… analytical thinking… holistic thinking… systematic thinking… strategic thinking… creative thinking… positive thinking… futuristic thinking… proactive thinking… practical thinking… idealistic thinking, and the list goes on. By all means, think. Think out solutions. Think ahead. Think through things. Think before you talk. Planners are thinkers. Thinkers are makers. Attitude is a function of the mind.

What is beauty without thought? What's the essence of having a head or brain if you can't think with it? The thoughtless are thankless. It is by thinking that we are enabled to rise above and advance beyond the periphery. Life that is lived around the surface is far from life as it was designed to be.

Faith is not foolishness. In Matthew 18:12, Jesus asked, "HOW think ye…?" In 21:28, He says, "WHAT think ye…?" In 22:42, He asks, "What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?" In 19:17, He says, "WHY callest thou me good?" Take note of those words - how, what, and why. He was getting the people to think.

Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" (Act.8:30). The word 'understandest' is 'ginosko' in the Greek, and the word 'readest' is 'anaginosko.' The prefix 'ana' is the difference. That tells you that reading and reflecting go together. Thinkers are readers. Meditation is a medication for the soul. Interestingly, in six verses of Acts 8 we have four questions. Questions flowed back and forth between Philip and the Ethiopian government official, and that teaches us that reading and thinking involve asking questions. Answers born out of questions carry weight. Answers without questions are not so valued. Thinkers ask questions and get answers. They probe deeper and rise higher. They pause and ponder. People who don't think often take life as they see it.

*What or how not to think

On Mars' hill, Paul said to the debaters and philosophers of his day, "We OUGHT NOT TO THINK that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" (Act.17:29). God is not like anything that the human eye can see. Our humanly manufactured gods are nothing but caricatures of the infinite Creator. The gods you can see are figments of our imagination. Man cannot demystify, relativize, trivialize or domesticate the being of God. He is not the God we can manage, stage-manage or pocket. He is before, beyond and above us. He cannot be simplified, defined or confined. Even our descriptions of Him are grossly inadequate. He will have to reveal Himself for anyone to know Him.

*What to think

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are TRUE, whatsoever things are HONEST, whatsoever things are JUST, whatsoever things are PURE, whatsoever things are LOVELY, whatsoever things are of GOOD REPORT; if there be any VIRTUE, and if there be any PRAISE, THINK ON THESE THINGS." In other words, be an excellent thinker. Think on things that really matter. Waste no time on trivia or frivolity. Engage your mind with real values. Life is greatly enriched and enhanced if thinking is prioritized, and I mean God-focused, Christ-centered, Spirit-infused, solution-minded and success-oriented thinking. Think, Think, Think!!!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter