Focus
Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.
Read
1 Corinthians 2:12-16 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
Reflect
We have to be different. We have to live for higher purposes. Our minds must be set on things above.
What does this mean, that we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God? I have been on a search for a couple of years to understand this verse. It seems so simple. I am a Christian. I go to church. I give money to the church. I serve the church. Yet, like everyone else, I spend too much money on things I don’t need. I worry about retirement, about my job, and about being a success or failure. I get angry with people and struggle with forgiveness. I struggle with trying to fit all my responsibilities in my week. Really, aside from the church going and giving, I look a lot like my non-Christian friends.
So maybe, I am not living in the Spirit. Maybe I am letting the world form and shape me. How do we change this? I think it starts by being intentional. Instead of planning our day, trying to fit in “Jesus Time,” maybe we start with the “Jesus Time” and fit the other stuff around it. This intentionality may mean that we have to drop some things off our schedule which the spirit of the world deems absolutely necessary. We might find out that maybe the things that we thought were so important really weren’t worth our time to begin with. Then maybe that leaves some room for the Spirit of God to form and shape us to the mind of Christ. Maybe, then we can live a little different from everyone else and pursue deeper and more meaningful activities and thoughts in our lives.
Pray
Lord, help us to be more simple. Help us to focus on things that lead to a greater life, more abundance, and service to You and our neighbors.
Go with God!
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