By Samuel Kwizera
Pharisee as describe in the Bible were clever and treacherous men devoted to the study of laws, practices and the teaching of the Torah. Though to some they are depicted as the “bad men” I love how God used them to expose the truth that we now hold dear. One time these intellectuals tried to push Jesus on the edge by creating a simple but thought provoking puzzle by asking him:
What is the greatest commandment of all?
To fully understand the depth of this trap, I should tell you that this question was asked by an expert in the law, which means he was truly acquainted with the laws in their authority, complexity and he was hoping to find an error in his teachings which would have led to the stoning of Jesus or to be called before the Sanhedrin. Jesus being the truth himself in the body with the ability to know, there he performed another intellectual somersault and answered it by summarizing all the laws,
Mathew 22:37
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Loving God with our minds? oh yes, though love is usually associated with the soul and heart we can always prove and love and truly worship God. Since this form of worship is a bit new to some or its being done covertly since they do this not thinking it’s a form of worship, I would like to share with you some of the ways we can do it:
- Contending for the faith:
This call to articulate our faith and make it known in its truest form (Jude 3:1). Since the first church Christians did their due diligence to give the message of the cross and debate with anyone who wanted to blemish its essence and we ought to show love to the giver of human intellect by doing the same. Through this exercise we don’t hold the heresy at bay but we also make the name of our God know in the public which is another form of evangelism.
- Reading the bible:
If the word of God is a lamp to our feet as David tells, imagine a number of Christians who walk in the darkness since they don’t know God’s word, every bible believing Christian can have a fellowship with God through the bible and get to know the truth which sets free. The truth of the bible is not restricted to many on pulpit, it’s a refreshing agent for the broken heart and meditating upon the promise of God written in there soothes our souls, it’s also a shield from the lies of the devil, and Just like Christ, man does not live by bread alone but by the word.
3. Living a Truthful life:
Every now and then we are bombarded with messages, life changing advice in all forms and shape but unless we are changed by the renewal of our minds, we will be conformed to this world. Testing the truth of the claims made using the word of God will transform us and conform us to the image of God leading us to live a truthful life, and doing good works which we were created for. The world is broken and its world view is shaky, people struggle to find a better way to live, we started a century with two genders now they are innumerable, Adam and Steve, there is so much confusion and loving God with your mind clears the fog off our eye, teaching us not to be lost.
Romans: 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.
