Brains and Faith

I’ve known some “brains” in my time. There was the professor of mine that had read the Bible in several translations and committed them all to memory, even with the notations of the study bible’s footnotes. How do I know? He could tell you to turn to a certain page number, if you were using one them, and then he could quote verbatim from the page, point out to you a certain notation and then he would invite you to read the text and recognize the difference between what the text said and what the notation by some commentator said that was very different. This same professor was friends with people around the world, was widely published and highly regarded, except when it came around to a group of people who had no respect for brains or Christian principle. Fortunately, this professor took that in stride too. He was a man of faith. And for all his brains, his God given gifts were revealed best in the center of his desire to seek God’s way for his life. That relationship of faith and trust in Jesus Christ was the sustaining influence in his personal witness. It was the reason for his sacrificial commitment to vocation in a setting that paid poorly, despite his great mental ability. It was the reason for his strength in the midst of life’s storms and trials. It was the strength that led him to be regarded with respect around the world by many, and was the demonstration of character that gave steady witness to a sustaining faith in Jesus Christ his Lord. Brains and faith go well together and thank goodness we who are called to faith are never called to remove our heads from our hearts, but rather to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and strength. Body, mind and spirit…are connected and interlinked in this call upon our lives. This call to faith and service is in relationship to God who created and made us for His purpose. Not all of us have photographic memory and genius status or herculean strength of body or perfection of intention or will, but we have the opportunity to turn our lives to God who will enable us and equip us to fulfill the divine purpose He would lead us to know. God invites us to use our heads well and often. If you think about it, trusting God to show you His way is a guarantee of a great future.