Thursday, October 29, 2009

MIND CLUTTER

David McCullough, a biographer of John Adams who was one of our Founding Fathers and early Presidents said this: “John Adams was both a devout Christian and an independent thinker, and I saw no conflict in that.”  How many people do you know that believe being a Christian and and a thinker are mutually exclusive? Apparently Mr. McCullough did. Kind of offends doesn’t it? That we are naive or not as bright as we should or could be…

Truth be know, the opposite is quite probably true of many of us. Many of us spend lots of time thinking, meditating, mulling and contemplating…especially on the truths of God’s Word. The book of Proverbs teaches us that wisdom is a gift of God. I’ve always considered wisdom knowledge applied…wisdom isn’t yours until you apply it and make it your own…then you are ready to share it. Lining up our thinking with the mind of Christ is quite a job, taking a lot of effort and dedication, since our nature wants us to exert our way over HIs, even in the thinking processes.

We live in a world that is upside-down, right is wrong and wrong is right, and sin is a nasty word, not a condition of the soul and spirit. Left to ourselves, we would not be able to think our way out of a paper bag. But God didn’t leave us to ourselves, He came to us.

I’ve a few thoughts on keeping the mind clear so as to best hear from the Lord, principles I’ve incorporated into my own life. Give them some thought and use them if you like…

1. Don’t think you have to say “yes” to everything. Prioritize…especially if you are older. It’s better to do a few things well and completely than too many poorly.

2. Take time to re-charge your batteries. When you do that, you can sort out your thoughts and actions and determine which are valid and which are not.

3. Take time to enjoy what you have already accomplished. You’re allowed to relish the good things you’ve done and the people you’ve befriended.

4. Stay away from debt…and not just financial. We can easily get caught up in the “shoulds, oughts, and have-to’s.” Those debts of behavior we feel constrained to do, no matter what. They are usually unnecessary and use of energy and/or resources we really can’t spare. If it should be financial debt, get out of it or it will strangle you before you know what happened.

5. When your mind runs and if it’s cluttered, you frequently talk too much. There is nothing more annoying than a senior citizen running off at the mouth about something that happened 40 years ago! Too much talking evidences itself because of basic insecurity, and/or anxiety about the future, a need to control and a desire to impress people.

6. Last but not least, the why?????  If we really think about it and are willing to be honest, we have a hard time trusting God to work things out, especially in a timely way. Our “talk” issue is really a “trust” issue…we just don’t trust God to handle “it.”

So…is your mind a clutter? Lots of us have junk stored up that we really would like to get rid of. God is willing to take it from you and relieve you of the burden, if you’ll let Him.

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