IQ and education are not enough…

 

 One of my siblings said, “I’m so thankful that our Mother taught us that the Bible is the Word of God.” The odd part of that statement is that this person belongs to a cult that changes the words in the Bible so that it says what they want it to believe.

Today’s devotional from John Piper is about God giving us minds to think, that He made the rules of logic and is the standard of true and false, good and bad, beautiful and ugly. Piper says that ignoring Him is to be profoundly undereducated, which is true, yet without the Spirit of God and His power to open our minds, we would all be blind to the truths it contains. I listen to my sibling and realize God is at work and I rejoice, because up until recently, he read it but didn’t get any of it.

I’m aware that anything I know about God and from His Word is in my mind because the Holy Spirit has enlightened me. It has very little to do with my ability to read or my IQ. I also realize that God requires me to obey what I know and gives the ability to do that. I am warned not to disobey by Scriptures such as this:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. . . . And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:21; 28)
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. (1 Corinthians 14:20)
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. (Proverbs 15:14)
Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Timothy 2:7)

Learning how to meditate takes time. Few children are thoughtful. So are many of us older people. ADHD does not help. For years, I’d read profound truths in the Word of God and forgot what I read soon after. Now I pray about what God says, and yet by the end of the day may not remember those verses. Thinking about them is really important, but not easy for me.

However, the power of the Holy Spirit to drive truth home to the heart is vital. Years ago, a young cult member was in our home. I asked her how she could be saved. She said, “By doing good works.” I handed her my Bible and had her read this aloud:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Then I repeated, “How does the Bible say we are saved?” She replied, “It says we are saved by good works.” 

From that time, I understand the meaning of spiritual blindness. Without the enlightenment of the Spirit, she could not comprehend what she had read. While I am to share the gospel with others, the Spirit must also be at work or their minds and hearts will not hear it.

It is the same for me. I’m reading the first part of 1 Chronicles and this is the Word of God, but I’m not hearing from Him — those genealogies are just words. 

PRAY: Jesus, not only do I depend on You for my redemption, I need You for everything including the ability to understand what You are saying. Yes, careful reading is important, but without Your grace, it is impossible to grasp the truth that sets me free. This is a big reason why I worship You and depend on You. I’m so thankful that You talk to me and know how to remind me of what You said.