Thinking For Yourself - Through the Scriptures

I was just thinking of something. (:P)

You know how society today talks about "free thought" and "making your own decisions", "being your own you", and all that kind of thing? They want you to think for yourself, control your own life, and be autonomous. 

You know, in some cases this is all well and good. For instance, there comes a time when a young adult must learn to make decisions on their own, knowing the consequences, gauging the pros and cons, whatever. There comes a time when responsibility rests on me, not on me and my parents, or me and my older siblings, or me and my pastor, or whomever. 

However.  That is not what I'm going to discuss here. 

What I want to discuss is this: when Christians tell other Christians to make decisions based on "what they think is right". 

No. We don't ever do that. We shouldn't ever look to ourselves for the answers. What we should tell others is "make decisions based on the truth God has put in Scripture". 

Are Christians supposed to think for themselves? Are we supposed to be autonomous? 

Is God only acting as our Father, our Lord, until we can make it on our own? Or is He there forever, for a reason? Let me ask you. By your own power, have you ever been able to do anything good? Certainly you've been able to do good things - but was it only you? Or was it God working in you? Is it good because you did it, or because God views it as good through the blood of Christ and His righteousnes placed upon you? 

~

So what does it mean to actually think? 

Does it mean making your own decisions, or deciding on the best decision that's out there? There are more wrong options than right ones - is thinking just "thinking" or is it "discernment"? 

These are definitions of "think" that came up when I did a Google search:

~judge or regard; look upon; judge; 

~expect, believe, or suppose; 

~use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments; 

~remember: recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection; 

~imagine or visualize; 

~focus one's attention on a certain state; 

~intend: have in mind as a purpose; 

~decide by pondering, reasoning, or reflecting; 

~ponder; reflect on, or reason about; 

~dispose the mind in a certain way;

~have or formulate in the mind; 

~be capable of conscious thought; 

~bring into a given condition by mental preoccupation; 

~an instance of deliberate thinking; 

There's more to thinking than people think. ;) We're swift creatures. Hanging back and pondering is, I think, an exception to the norm. Especially in today's age, where instant satisfaction is right at your fingertips, right? There's so little to think about, especially since we can just look it up. 

Well, look these up (don't worry, I already did. You can just read):

Proverbs 14:15 - "The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps."

Prudence is something that should be obvious in a Christian. Do you give thought to your steps? Do you believe everything you hear, or do you search the Scriptures to see whether it is so? 

Acts 17:11 - "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."

In searching the Scriptures, do you find where the arguments falter, where lofty opinions are false, or where your own opinions are perhaps in need of tweaking? 

2 Corinthians 10:5 - "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,"

How do you think Paul accomplished this? He had every thought captive to obey Christ - he destroyed every argument and lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God - how? Because, he had the knowledge of God. How? Because, he knew the Scriptures and focussed his thought upon them. God taught him true knowledge. 

Psalm 94:10-11 - "He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge - the Lord - knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath."

We should think thoughts of God, not of man. Thinking for ourselves is not in view here. Thinking for God, through God, in the Scriptures is.  

Psalm 139:23 - "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!"

Sometimes this can be a scary thing to ask, but have you ever asked it? Are your thoughts going to be pleasing to God if He searches them? Are your thoughts contrary to God's, or aligned with God's? 

Hebrews 4:12 - "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

The best way we can see into our own hearts is by looking at the Scriptures. They will convict us, edify us, purify us, sanctify us, et cetera. If there is anything you must read, it is the Scriptures. Do not settle for a book about the Scriptures. Books about the Scriptures are good and have their place, but their place is second to the Word of God. 

1Corinthians 14:20 - "Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature." 

Mature your thoughts by focussing them on Scripture! Seriously. Otherwise:

1 Corinthians 10:12 - "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."

James 1:26 - "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless."

Seek God. Here are some more verses to ponder. 

Deuteronomy 4:29 - "But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Proverbs 2:1-15 - "My son, if you receive my words

and treasure up my commandments with you,

making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

yes, if you call out for insight

and raise your voice for understanding,

if you seek it like silver

and search for it as for hidden treasures,

then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

guarding the paths of justice

and watching over the way of his saints.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice

and equity, every good path;

for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

discretion will watch over you,

understanding will guard you,

delivering you from the way of evil,

from men of perverted speech,

who forsake the paths of uprightness

to walk in the ways of darkness,

who rejoice in doing evil

and delight in the perverseness of evil,

men whose paths are crooked,

and who are devious in their ways."

2Chronicles 20:20 - "And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”"

Psalm 119:66 - "Teach me a good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments."

John 20:31 - "but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

Hebrews 11:6 - "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

1John 4:1 - "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness..."

Matthew 22:29 - "But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God."

John 5:39-40 - "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."

Acts 18:24-28 - "Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus."

Romans 15:4 - "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

There are many examples of men and women of God who focussed all their thought upon God. 

However, I will only write about two here. 

Think of Peter - while he was thinking for himself, he was foolish and frightened and confused. He denied Christ three times; he was broken and bullheaded. 

But with the Holy Spirit, he was on fire for Christ, boldly proclaiming the word of God to all nations in the face of great persecution. Truly he became the rock on which Christ built His church. 

Think also of Paul - while thinking for himself, he was destroying lives and ravaging the church. He was murdering and imprisoning God's people. Jesus confronts him, and after that every thought and action is captive for Christ. Paul ministers to the Christians and builds them up, and writes many powerful letters. You've read them before. :) 

So, think again of those definitions that were near the top of the post:

~judge or regard, look upon, judge the Scriptures, or judge other things in light of the Scriptures. 

~expect, believe, or suppose that what the Scriptures promise will come to pass.

~use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments, through the Scripture, to destroy "every lofty opinion" raised against the knowledge of God. 

~remember; recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection; Here I would say, memorize Scripture, so that you can recall it from memory. Have it on your mind so that it will make a difference in your life. 

~imagine or visualize the truths of Scripture, the descriptions of God in His holiness, love, perfection, glory (I see the Lord seated on the throne...the train of his robe fills the temple with glory - quite the descriptive image!)

~focus one's attention on a certain state - Godliness! :) Find the ideal of Godliness in Scripture. 

~intend: have in mind as a purpose - have Scripture in your mind with the purpose to follow it. 

~decide by pondering, reasoning, or reflecting and

~ponder; reflect on, or reason about -ponder, reason over, and reflect on the gospel, on Jesus' teachings, on His actions - become familiar with Him. 

~dispose the mind in a certain way - toward Godliness. Holiness. Christlikeness. 

~have or formulate in the mind - Truth. 

~be capable of conscious thought - Christianity is not a mindless religion. It is a thoughtful faith in a real existing Lord and Saviour. 

~bring into a given condition by mental preoccupation - the Holy Spirit works to sanctify us as we seek to do the will of God. 

~an instance of deliberate thinking - deliberately think of God; do not just think that since you're a Christian you're all good. Well, you are - the work is done, the price is paid - but you should strive to be more Christlike with each breath and every passing moment! Until He returns, devote your time and thought and energy to Christ. 

So, what do you think? :)