Remember the kosher dietary laws—telling the Hebrews what they can and cannot put in their mouths?
There are similar rules for our minds. We are not supposed to just open up and swallow everything.
“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” Colossians 2:8.
Did you know you can become a captive to ungodly ideas? That is a risk every day. Do you watch TV? Listen to the songs of lost people? Read their books? Of course. We all do. Embrace their ideas. Understand them so you can prove them to be empty and point the lost to the better ideas of Christ.
But don’t be taken in. Don’t become a captive to bad ideas. Seriously. That is a risk. The devil never announces his arrival. He comes in like a thief—unseen—and he feeds you half truths. He does it to all of us.
The only way to defeat the lies is to study God’s Word, God’s Amazing Book of Truth. Read it. Skip around or read it in order. Pick it up and try something at random. But read it. Open it and give your Creator and Savior, the “Lover of your soul”* a few minutes to speak to you every day.
Someone once said of the Bible: “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” Don’t allow sin to keep you away from the Good Book. Spend a few minutes reading it. If you can’t find the time, ask yourself how the devil feels about that. It’s his number one goal. If he can keep you from reading the Bible, he has neutralized you; you are no threat to him. Don’t you want to be a player, to get off the sidelines and make a difference? It takes a daily commitment to God’s word.
God, give us a passionate hunger for your word! Help us read it, study it, memorize it, devour it! Remove deceptions and empty philosophies from our minds and replace them with your Truth. Use the word to keep us from sin. Make your word part of the way we think on every subject. Use us to change the thinking of people around us. Help us point them to you. Help us submit our minds and all of our thoughts to the authority of your word. Help us overcome the inertia of doing nothing. Help us begin new habits of reading and studying your word. Even if it’s only five minutes a day. May your word transform our thoughts and beliefs every day. We don’t need the junk food of the world. Bless us with a hunger for the MEAT of scripture. Fill our minds with your truth and use it to change our lives so we can get off the sidelines and get in the game and make a difference for your kingdom.
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- “Lover of My Soul” is a lyric from a 1738 hymn by John Wesley. The phrase has recently turned up in songs by Hillsong Worship and Kari Jobe.
Household Words: 