Challenging our thinking toward more Spirit-oriented study & worship

Some people’s understanding of God keeps growing; their vision of the kingdom of God becomes increasingly richer. They don’t mind being stretched and having to think things through. We can become Spirit-oriented thinkers if we ask the Spirit to help us as we approach Scripture or even the newspaper opinion page or a magazine that stretches us. 

We can seek guidance, asking, How does this square with what I already know or think? Is my thinking straight here? Is there something here I need to learn? You can always tell such truth-seekers because they connect the dots between two things that seem to be opposites. They see what others miss, such as when Dallas links a thoughtful, studious approach to life with worship of God. Many people concentrate only on worship or only on study to the exclusion of the other. In contrast, study and worship should flow together. Students of God remain humble when they worship, and worshippers who also study worship with substance and truth instead of sentimentality. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - For five to ten minutes, read something that stretches you or differs from what you might normally think: Scripture (try an Old Testament prophet), your newspaper’s opinion page (read a viewpoint opposite your own), a magazine that challenges you (perhaps Atlantic Monthly or Discover). 

Pray before you read it, asking the Holy Spirit to help you read slowly and thoughtfully. Pause frequently and ask yourself how this information compares or contrasts with your usual point of view. Pause afterward. Consider if your reading brings to mind anything you might worship God for: the creativity of human relationships, God’s truth compared to the false reality routinely presented, or something else.


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