Never Thought Of It !
／Evelyn O. Shih
"Hey! I have never thought of it!"
"Wow! How come I never thought that way?"
Every time I hear these words, I am happy for the speaker, who had obtained some revelation; and, if I heard myself saying these words, I was even happier, for it proved that I had learned something new.
The human is a thinking animal. A philosopher once said. "I exist when I think". When one is unable to think, like a patient with Alzheimer's disease, we feel the person has gone although the body still lives.
As for us, the healthy ones, we don't always use our thinking skills either. For example, we may read the Bible without thinking. This is especially true for those among us who were brought up in Christian families, reciting so many verses since childhood that, now, as we read them again, we just swallow the small sweet rice balls with no need to chew at all.
We are even lazier when we listen to a sermon. Thinking that almost all preachers say the same things, we turn our thoughts to criticize his gestures and accent, or the color of his tie, or even the heavy make-up of a choir member.
Recently, I discovered that even more terrible than not thinking is to accept others' thoughts without discerning. That is, when we will not endure sound doctrine; but after our own lusts shall we heap to ourselves teachers, having itching ears; and we shall turn away our ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
This was exactly the case when Satan tempted
Adam and Eve. Satan led them to think after their lusts...pride, wishing to be as smart as God, as well as doubting God's love and faithfulness. Therefore, I am not so happy now when I hear the words, never thought of. In these times, Satan is using many novel and fancy ways to turn us away from the truth.
So, let's stop and think when we hear a new theory. Is it Biblical? Whether it is an insight from a preacher or a personal experience of a spiritual leader, we must put the theory under the sieve of the Bible. The bottom line is that we must know our Bible well and keep ourselves close to God, so the Holy spirit will give us wisdom of discernment.
