ISAIAH 26:3-4 – You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
THEME OF THE DAY. IT BEGINS IN THE MIND. One of the most important impacts Christians may have in our world is to live out the promise Jesus gave us about peace – “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The reason for the importance of living a life of inward peace in our world is that lack of inward peace in our world. Every day we encounter people in our families, neighborhoods, communities, and places we go who live in near constant tension, unrest, stress, and anxiety. Inward peace, or heart contentment, is foreign to them. The evidence is the many ways people try to calm themselves in a chaotic world. I don’t need to list the futile ways people try to find peace and contentment in the world. Just read the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes and listen to King Solomon. He went down the many roads to try and find peace and contentment in the world with every one ending with a sign “Dead End”. So, when a Christian is living a life of peace in a peace-less world, we stand out. And in that standing out, the reality of these words from the Apostle Peter will come true – In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). People will ask, “How come you seem so calm in difficult times?”, “Why don’t you get rattled with all that is happening in our world?”, “What makes you so different than the stressed-out people, including me?” We will be able to tell them about the Prince of Peace who gives everlasting peace to those longing for it. However, there is a “catch”. It is found in today’s scripture.
Everything in the Christian life begins in the mind. As goes our thinking, so goes our peace in the Lord and ability to live above circumstances, not by circumstances. The prophet Isaiah is telling us, “You want the peace that passes all understanding and stabilizes your life? You want to walk in a world of chaos with inward contentment? Then, you must have a disciplined mind that keeps itself on the Lord.”
So, what does that look like in the Christian life? How do we get there? It is all about the scriptures. It is all about a mind renewed and controlled by the scriptures. As goes our time in the Word to stay close to the Lord, so goes our peace in and from the Lord. This means our minds must be filled with scripture. A mind filled with the scripture is a pre-requisite for a life directed by the scripture.
If we truly want a life of peace, lived in our world and experienced in our lives, the discipline of the Word must become a discipline in our lives. As goes our thinking so goes our peace. May the Lord help us stay our minds on Him as we put our minds into the means He has given to do that – His Word.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to learn to renew my mind with the truth of Your Word.”
QUOTE: “A mind saturated with the Bible is a prerequisite to a life directed by the Bible.”