Arthur Allen Fletcher, an American government official widely referred to as 'the father of affirmative action', coined the phrase, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
To explain in short what Mr. Fletcher was saying; writer Meet Shah wrote, "Our life is a reflection of our thoughts. We are driven by thoughts, and thoughts are driven by our mind, and that’s how ultimately it’s our mind which decides or controls everything.
We become what we feed our mind; and by developing the right mindset anyone can achieve almost anything; but by letting it wondering on auto-pilot, it can be easy to lose the path of our dreams or visions."
We should challenge ourselves to find the answers to questions such as…
What do I think about? What occupies my inner most thoughts?
What do I THINK about what I am THINKING about? And, is God anywhere in my thoughts?
Over the years I have come to understand that we can decide the destination of our mind!
One example is Nebuchadnezzar; a great Babylonian king, builder of cities and a foreign ruler that God used for his purposes. With all that he accomplished, he refused to see who God was and determined that his mind would focus on himself and what others thought of him.
The king saw himself as a god, convinced that building an image of gold would be the perfect motivation to cause all to worship him! He forgot the demonstrations he witnessed of God's power and became extremely proud of all his accomplishments; literally paving the way for his mental instability.
Totally absorbed in himself, refusing to acknowledge God, he was cursed to live and behave like a beast in the fields with the wild animals for 7 years and was removed from his office as king until he learned who was really in control!
What a terrible waste of a mind!
What can we take-away from the life of this king? I believe the king himself said it best!
"After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to Him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. Not one can stop him or say to him, 'What do you mean by doing these things? When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor, glory and kingdom! My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud." (Daniel 4:34-37)
One key to mental stability is to shift your affections upward, pray and feed it the Word of God.
When we focus all our attention on our own lives, we risk finding ourselves unable to see how God is working in it!
Use God's Word to your advantage and as a guide when you face challenges today; acknowledge and give Him control in every area of your life; for YOUR mind is definitely a TERRIBLE thing to waste!
~Deloris Davis, Associate Pastor
Indeed
Moving Your Margins, I Will Beat Fruit 100 fold and a Sound Mind were all dynamic! I received nuggets from each topic and was inspired.