Where is Your Mind

Where is your mind? What is your focus? Do you set your mind on the things of God, or do you set your mind on the things of this world?

The wisdom of the Proverbs tells us, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, NKJV).

The Apostle Paul wrote the Romans saying, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, ESV).

Our thoughts shape our lives. Where we set our minds, our bodies go. Our thinking and our will to obey and to follow God’s plan for our lives are all intricately connected.

When Jesus turned his face to Jerusalem and to the cross, he shared with his disciples that he would suffer many things, be killed, and on the third day be raised from the dead. Matthew’s gospel tells us “Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ But Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man’” (Matthew 16:22-23, ESV).

Like Peter, when we set our minds on the things of man and the things of this world, we are a hindrance to God’s purposes, plan, and will. We must set our minds on the things of God and his kingdom.

As Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25, ESV).

May we find our lives in Jesus as we think about God, as we set our minds on the things of God, and as we deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus.

A Collect for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, or the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity (Proper 17): “O Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow after us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

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