"Believing In Our Hearts - Knowing With Our Minds" Series

I read once of a man who was lost in the desert, just dying for a drink of water. He stumbled upon an old shack – a ramshackled, windowless, roofless, weather beaten old shack. He looked around and found a little shade from the heat of the desert sun. As he glanced around he saw a pump about fifteen feet away – an old, rusty water pump. He stumbled over to it, grabbed the handle, and began to pump up and down, up and down. Nothing at all came out. Disappointed and discouraged, he staggered back. And then he noticed off to the side and old jug. He looked at it, wiped away the dirt and dust and read a message that said; “You have to prime the pump with all the water in this jug, my friend. PS…Be sure you fill the jug again before you leave.”

He popped the cork out of the jug and sure enough, it was almost full of water. Suddenly he was faced with a decision. If he drank the water, and he was extremely thirsty, he could get by a little longer. Or if he trusted whoever had written the old note, poured all the water from the jug into the pump, it may or may not work at all. If that old rusty pump worked maybe it would yield fresh, cool water from down deep in the well, all the water he wanted. And if he used up all the water and it didn’t work, he would die of thirst out in the desert.

He studied the possibility of both options. What should he do? Ignore the flimsy instructions written no telling how long ago? Drink the water in the jug? Give it all up and go for the pump? What would you do? Reluctantly he poured all the water into the pump. Then he grabbed the handle and began to pump, squeak, squeak, squeak. Nothing came out. Squeak, squeak and a little water began to dribble out, then a small stream, and finally it gushed. To his relief, fresh cool water poured out of the rusty pump. Eagerly he filled the jug and drank it, filled it again and drank it too. Then he filled the jug for the next traveler. He filled it to the top, popped the cork back on, and added this little note “Believe me, it really works. You have to give it all away before you get anything back.

Faith, wisdom and trusting God completely in any circumstance, at any time of our lives. There is a big difference between heart and mind when we trust in God. Our scripture reading addresses wisdom and where it comes from. Solomon, David’s son writes at the beginning of this book in the New King James translation, chapter 1 verses 1-7; “This is the book of proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion - A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Now listen to the translation known as “The Message” written by a man of God Eugene Peterson,

"These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king - written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There’s something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn - Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women."

Start with God the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

Do you know that every time in the Bible when a person is called upon to exercise faith, it’s an intelligent faith? It is faith based on wisdom that can only come from God. Jesus said in the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make, or set, you free.” What is the greatest commandment of all? Jesus Himself gave us this command “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Love God with our hearts and our minds. I believe He is speaking about intelligent faith. Christian faith is not a blind ignorant belief, but it is based on facts and based on wisdom from God. I believe we should never use the term “blind faith” when it comes to our belief in Jesus Christ. To love God with our hearts and our minds. Why do so many Christians stop with their hearts? When we were created, each in God’s image, we were given a mind, empowered with the Holy Spirit to know God, as well as a heart to love Him, and a will to choose Him.