by Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
After reading this verse I pondered it a bit. If we are to “apply our hearts unto wisdom,” we need to think with our hearts instead of thinking with our minds. God says, “we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” he does not say “we may apply our minds unto wisdom.”
God knows if we think with our minds, we are more likely to make bad decisions because of the fleshly desires of our sinful nature.
John 2:15-16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
We lust for things when we visually see them. Our brains go into overload sometimes and we want something so bad, we ignore the inner person – God – speaking to us and we make bad decisions based on what we ‘see’ and what we think with our minds. In this new year, we need to focus more on what our inner person – God – is telling us from our heart and ignore what we ‘see’ and listen to our hearts and God so we can make better decisions.
Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Think about it this way, “When I think with my mind, I am more likely to make mistakes and make wrong decisions. When I think with my heart, I am more likely to make the right decisions that God would want me to make.
Here are a few examples of thinking with our mind verses thinking with our heart:
- We want to do something with our friends knowing that that something will take us out of church service.
- With the mind we may think, “Oh it’s okay this time, it’s only one time, it’s only one church service, I really want to do this with my friends.”
- With the heart we may think, “I should not miss church service, God will not like that. If I miss church, it is a sin. I want to be with my friends; but I want to obey my Lord more so, I will not go out with my friends and miss church.”
- We see a new outfit that we would like to buy but it is a bit more revealing than it should be.
- With the mind we might think, “Oh it’s alright it’s a little short and the neckline is a little low, it’s a little tight in a few areas; but that’s okay that is how everyone is wearing their clothing nowadays I want to fit in with everyone else.”
- With the heart we may think, “If God was to see me in this outfit would he be happy, or would I be embarrassed? Would I try to hide behind something so God wouldn’t see me in the tight revealing outfit?”
- The Pastor asks us to do something at church. Maybe it is a one-time event or a long commitment like teaching a Sunday School Class.
- With the mind we might think, “I can’t do this. It takes too much time. I have my week scheduled out and there is no more time to fit this in.”
- With the heart we might think, “I can’t do this, but the Preacher needs help. God would want me to help. I need to rearrange my schedule so I can help the Preacher and serve God.”
These were just a few examples and if we are honest with ourselves, we have been there, probably in most, if not all these examples in life. What have we done? How have we responded? How have we thought and responded?
When we think with our minds, we can easily make mistakes because we are ‘looking’ at things and the flesh starts lusting after the things we are ‘seeing.’
In conclusion, this is a brief encouragement in this new year to evaluate, “Do you think with your mind or your heart?” None of us have ever thought with our heart all the time. We do live in this sinful flesh and it gets us into trouble way too often. So, move on in this new year, “Thinking with your heart,” instead of your mind.
Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
