Friday, December 28, 2007

The Disciplines of a Tidy Mind

It has been a while since I posted a blog—September 17th to be exact. The ‘urgent’ possessed me and pressed me away. Well, I would like to resume my regular posts, but with one modification. My commitment to a weekly post may be a bit more than what this season of my life will allow. So, I will alter that commitment to a monthly post. I will aim for the first day of every month.

I taught the book of Psalms in the 2007 fall semester for the Cleveland extension of Moody Bible Institute—I was personally instructed and pointedly convicted, more than my students I’m sure. I was made aware of the ‘lost ground’ of sensible thinking that slipped away in my life over time. As the proverbial frog who would naturally leap from a pot of boiling water, yet would calmly boil himself to death in the same pot if the temperature were increased a mere degree at a time, so seems to be the way of sensible thinking. That "urgent" is not good when it overtakes balance.

I was struck anew with the immediate and regular discipline of a tidy mind. The Bible teaches us that the mind is the gateway to the soul and the battle ground in the fight for joy. You may want to look at such passages as: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Ephesians 4:17-24 and Philippians 4:4-9. The psalmist sings often of this wisdom. The first psalm sets forward a broad pattern of that wisdom, and so many psalms of the entire, one hundred and fifty, sing of its practicality. Hear his wisdom:

How blessed is the man who does not walk
in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

I remember my professor, long ago, in the Theology of the Holy Spirit class, releasing us with a last word. He said, “The only guarantee that you will walk with Christ tomorrow, is if you are walking with Christ today; no amount of knowledge, time in maturity or position of leadership will keep you—keeping is a moment by moment, step by step walk in the Spirit.” I don’t remember much else he taught, but his last word was worth the class. He is right.

So, my theme, “Marriage in the Making,” is the same, but with the wisdom of the Psalms as my material for a while. And Psalm 1 will set the pattern on January 1.

Have a wonderful Christmas season!