DO WE VALUE GOD’S SPIRIT?
The information provided to us in Proverbs the sixteenth chapter, should give us pause for thought. These verses contrast the human mind with and without the Spirit of God.
“The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established” (Proverbs 16:1-3).
In creating mankind, God provided great latitude in being able to use and express the God given spirit in man. In other words, to man pertain the plans of his mind. We have the freedom to think, reason and make plans as we desire.
The problem with this is that the mind is deceitful above all things and self-deception can bring the mind to erroneous conclusions.
“Their tongue is an arrow shot out; it speaks deceit; one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lies in wait” (Jeremiah 9:8).
Jeremiah asks the question, Who can know it?”. There is only one answer to that question. Man, on his own, cannot know the base motivation for the working of the mind. That is the very nature of deception.
Jesus Christ while teaching His disciples made the following statement regarding the working of the natural mind.
“For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man …” (Matthew 15:19-20).
Our calling involves us coming to recognize the truth of this and take measures to eliminate this kind of thinking. When we bring God into the picture, a different mind comes into play. Through the process of repentance and conversion, the mind acquires God’s Spirit which overrides the spirit in man and allows us to think and reason on a different level.
With God’s Spirit we are capable of proving the true moral worth of our thoughts. He allows us to see the truth of the human mind such that we will seek the will of God over our own will. By committing our works to the Lord, we will have a new and different outlook.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
God knows our true state of mind and is willing to exclude deception so that we can confidently proceed with life when we commit our works to God.
This all sounds a little intellectual – good on paper, but is it reality? Committing our works to God is a daily, ongoing course of action. It involves the decisions we must make each day. It means that we have God in mind all throughout the day, keeping Him in mind as we face life’s situations. This is something we must do.
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5).
Commitment means narrowing one’s options. The options we choose will be within the scope of God’s place in our lives. The broader perspective is for the mind without God’s Spirit.
Brian Orchard
