Weekly Devotion from Pastor Bryan White
Devotion for the Week of May 4th, 2008
"Are you smarter than a 5th grader?"
Phil 2:5 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"
Have you ever seen that show? It's quite a site to watch well-educated, skilled people know less than a fifth-grader. Most of us probably wouldn't fair any better on the show. We'd all love to have a great mind and be really smart right?
While coming to Christ doesn't necessarily make us any smarter, Paul tells us that we can and should have the mind of Jesus Christ. Mind in this sense gives us the idea of attitude or way of thinking. In other words think like Christ thought.
Wow what a thought! Can I really think like Christ thought? I believe the answer is yes or otherwise we wouldn't have been commanded to do so. So how did Christ think? Read the next few verses in Philippians 2. He placed no value on His personal image or reputation. He wasn't consumed with His rights or what He ought to have. In fact, He didn't care about any of those things. He was totally sold out to the will of the Father with no regard to personal gain. And verse 9 tells us that as a result God hath highly exalted Him.
As we conclude this thought, don't forget the first word of verse 5, let. This is not an attitude we can produce in ourselves. Rather it is something that we allow Christ to produce through us as we lay aside our emphasis on ourselves.
May God richly bless you as you keep your focus on Him,
Ben Blackburn