“You have great freedom — whatever — to allow the Spirit to revive your mind.”- John Ortberg
John Ortberg continues Chapter 9 of The Me I Want to Be as he notes God desires you to have a mind that routinely thinks noble, true, pure, admirable thoughts (Philippians 4:8). And since the flow of the Holy Spirit is readily available, you never need wait for anything.
Although we’re free to feed our minds using every good source, John stresses that no source equals the Bible. In 2007, Eugene Peterson wrote:
“Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don’t simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love.”
However, John notes, it’s never been so easy to obtain Scripture. Yet, Scripture’s never been more difficult to absorb. Pastor Ortberg believes many people harbor an unspoken secret. That secret? They find the Bible boring.
In contrast, the ancient Greek contained no word for boredom. But, even though researchers says the average Bible owner possesses nine Bibles, we’re the ones who get bored. Because our dependence on external stimuli has weakened our capacity to delight our minds in sustained thought.
For example, we find it boring to read all the “begats” in one of the Old Testament genealogies. In contrast, in the ancient culture they loved reading them (emphasis John’s). Those lists meant they had a story, an identity. Furthermore, the act of memorizing genealogies provided a challenge and huge satisfaction.
Therefore, in a world filled with many easy options for our amusement or distraction, we must learn to be fed through the Bible.
Next, Pastor Ortberg presents five ways for this feeding to occur.
Today’s question: What Bible verses has the Holy Spirit used to revive your mind? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The biggest barrier to our becoming learners”
