562 The Spiritual Man
truth. An unobstructed mentality in conjunction with a free spirit aids
us the most in knowing the truth.
If the mind is open the individual will soon perceive the
preciousness of a truth which initially appeared rather dull to him but
now is illumined by the spirit’s light. This is the way a child of God
often receives truth: at the beginning it seems quite meaningless;
after a while, though, the light of the spirit shines upon his mind and
equips him to comprehend the depth of that truth. Although he may
not have at his command the proper words to explain it, yet inwardly
he has understood perfectly. An open mind lets in the truth, but the
illumination of the spirit’s light renders the truth profitable.
A Controlled MindEvery part of the Christian’s life needs to be under reins; that
includes the mind even following its renewal. We ought not toss the
reins to it lest the evil spirits take advantage. Let us remember that
thought is the seed of action. Carelessness here invariably leads to
sin there. An idea sown will eventually grow, however prolonged
such growth may require. We can trace all our presumptuous and
unconscious sins to those seed thoughts we allowed to be planted
before. If a sinful notion is allowed to stay in the head, then after a
time, perhaps a few years, it will result in a sinful act. Suppose, for
example, we conceive an evil thought against a certain brother. If it
is not eradicated and cleansed immediately, it ultimately will produce
its unsavory fruit. The Christian must exert his utmost strength to
deal with his thoughts. Should his mental life be left uncontrolled, he
cannot possibly control anything. Hence Peter exhorts us to “gird up
(our) minds” (1 Peter 1.13), by which he means to say that we must
regulate all our thoughts and never let them run wild.
God’s objective is to “take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Hence we ought to scrutinize every one of our thoughts in the light of