BATTLE OF THE MIND

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:9 KJV)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jer 17: 9-10 KJV)

COMMENT

Thinking is a unique gift to humanity. Nothing man does without first thinking and perhaps planning it. He considers the benefits of the action he wants to undertake and then plans the steps to take. The process and the end result of whatever he wishes to produce is sometimes complete in his thoughts even before he has started. The human mind is the greatest asset man has and can be used for good result or negative.

The devil knows all this and therefore he is trying to deceive man. He attacks the mind in a very clever way, and misleads the man, who is made by God in His image, so that the devil can achieve his goal. You may ask why God does not stop Satan attacking the man. The answer is simple: man was created a free moral agent able to make his own independent decisions even rejecting his maker. God did not plan to make puppets but free beings to function autonomously. The devil is allowed to tempt man but he (man) can choose to reject anything he does not approve.

In a way that cannot easily be suspected, the devil puts his thoughts in a man and  makes him think that whatever he has in the mind is his own thoughts and will produce good results.

The bad thoughts in our mind cause lack of peace of mind. The bad news we hear every day from the media or word of mouth from the people around us, steal our peace of mind. In return we react in negative manner and these reactions affect our lives and the lives of other people.

The tree of life in the Garden of Eden represent good news we put in our thoughts and the result is peace of mind but the tree of knowledge of good and evil represent bad thoughts. When we catch news in the media by either listening to the radio or watching the TV, or reading the newspapers, we become depressed because of the bad news. Good news is not received as news and therefore does not appeal to the recipients.  A conspiracy by the devil is suspected here, and for a good reason. If serenity is not news, then something is very wrong with man and only the intervention of Jesus Christ will help in bringing peace of mind.

Now that we have seen how dangerous bad news can cause in our minds, one must choose which news one will consume.  Discussion or comment after hearing the bad news makes ones situation even worse. One must consume good news and discard bad news. Bad news like poisonous food must be thrown away i.e. vomited to avoid illnesses.

Think of bad movies, phonograph and even cultural practices that feed our minds and produce negative behavior. These are all agents of the evil one who does not want peace in our minds. They distort our thinking and by extension our actions. As Christians, we are supposed to question anything we detect in our minds that does not agree with the written word. When the thought in our mind is, “I think”, the answer should be, “The bible says….”.  When the second thought is, “I want”, the answer should be, “, “You won’t have it”.