God Gave You A Mind - Now Use It!

What is the first line of defense we have as Christians as we defend the faith and think well for the glory of God? No, it isn't the Bible, which may come as a surprise to some. It's our mind! Yes, our mind. Before we ever open a Bible, we use our minds - we think and reason. As we read the Bible or any other piece of literature, we use our minds - we think and reason. After we've closed the Bible, we use our minds - we think and reason.

Quite often, you and I don't even have to open the Scriptures to know whether something is true or a giant, heaping bunch of malarkey. If we know how to think, follow an argument, and critique an argument, we can come to a conclusion pretty quickly. When we've done our homework, we know if someone is giving us a flawed argument or a good one. I don't need to find a Bible verse to tell me if the law of non-contradiction is being violated or an argument is self-defeating, I know it because I'm working at training my mind to recognize it.

In no way does what I've said downplay or minimize the importance and primacy of God's Word. I'm simply saying that an a number of occasions, we don't even need to open a Bible to make our case (or to poke holes in someone else's). We have to use our minds to understand what God is actually saying to us in Scripture. Sometimes we have to think long and hard to know what's being taught and how we should respond. If you want to know what "all Israel will be saved," means (Rom. 11:26), you have to use your mind. If we want to know what it means practically to follow Jesus Christ, we can't do it without thinking.

One of my favorite phrases in all of Scripture is in Isaiah 1:18 - "Come let us reason together," says the Lord. God has given us minds that are amazing! We can't forget our first line of defense.