Thinking
Thinking is a word humans use to define what is going on in our mind. There are other terms that also explain this cognitive process, such as believing, desiring, feeling, hoping, meditating, reasoning, remembering, or wanting.
Cognitive motion comes before physical motion. Before we act, we think — so we hope. But where does worshipping land? Is worshipping acting or thinking?
Many of the following principles are my own, but there are also priniciples drawn from a book titled With All Your Heart: Orienting Your Mind, Desires, and Will Toward Christ by A. Craig Troxel.
Worshipping
Worshipping is an action of ascribing value to something or someone. Outward acts of worship are driven by internal thoughts of worship. What you think about will be what motivates you to action.
If you take stock of what you think about most, whatever that object is, that is your object of worship. That is what drives you to action. This is what we often call the desire of your heart.
Heart Desiring
What you think about most is what reveals your heart’s desire. David prays:
“Examine me, O Lord, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.”
— Psalm 26:2
David knew that what was in his mind was also what was in his heart. He speaks of the two in synonymous terms. Our mind and heart are friends. What we think about most is what we want in our heart.
Since the fall, sin has caused our hearts to desire what God has not given us. If we allow our minds to dwell on what God has not given, we keep our minds fixed on the creation instead of the Creator. This is misdirected thinking, misdirected worship.
Need of Transformation
If misdirected thinking leads to misdirected worship, the solution must be to redirect our thinking, right? Yes, but not in our own power. Because of sin, we cannot change our thinking on our own.
This present world lives according to fleshly passions and desires, however it sees fit. Before God regenerates a person, Christians once acted according to those same passions and desires (Eph. 2:1–3). But once God transforms us from death to life, He transforms our minds, and continues to do so through the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2).
It is taking down every lofty opinion that opposes God, every thought devoted to worshipping other gods, and bringing it captive to Christ.
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
— 2 Corinthians 10:5
Every thought we think has to be tested to see whether it is good, acceptable, and perfect.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
— Romans 12:2
To this point, genuine believers can see when their thinking is reverting to past fleshly desires. But that is only step one. Acknowledging the sin doesn’t necessitate change. The next step is drawing near to Christ, who can continually break us free from the power of sin’s control in our lives.
That will be next week’s post.
Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).
