Developing A Biblical Mindset

Developing a Biblical Mindset

Colossians 2:8

November 2, 2003

Introduction

This is the third message on living a life characterized by the peace of God. In the first message I gave six strategies to living in the peace of God.

Last week we talked about the fact that God is in control, no matter what we see or understand.

Next week we will look at how to plan ahead for the future, yet keep in mind that God’s will prevails, then we will take a look at how to live in anticipation.

Today, however, we are going to discuss developing a biblical mindset.

The basis of our time this morning is a verse from Colossians 2, which I have printed at the top of your note-taking guide. Please follow along as I read this verse.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

So how do we go about developing a biblical mindset?Here are 5 ways to help us do that. I think you’ll find these practical and doable, no matter what your situation. Ready? Here we go.

The first way to develop a biblical mindset is to…

1. Make time to be in the Bible regularly.

Some of you might be getting tired of me telling you to get in the Bible all the time. Well, too bad. We need to hear this all the time!

Look back at our passage. I want to point out the phrase,

which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Circle the words, “human tradition.” This is critical to our understanding why it is so important to develop a Biblical mindset.

You see folks, human tradition is a fickle thing. It changes all the time. But the Word of God does not change.

In a world full of fluctuating values, we need a solid reference in order to make sense of it all, and to be able to respond to it in a reasoned and reasonable manner.

Now, some of you here today are very careful to get in the Bible every single day. I applaud you and say keep it up.

Others in here maybe have not opened your Bible in years, and the only exposure you get to Scripture is when you come here on Sunday mornings.

And still others get into it on an occasional basis.

And let me be very frank with you for a moment. I have trouble getting in the Word every day. It’s hard for me, and it doesn’t always get done.

I offer no excuses, although I could think of some. The problem with excuses, though, is that they’re like armpits. Everyone’s got a couple and they usually stink.

Read through the Bible on a yearly basis. If you can’t do that, at least read through the New Testament every year. A chapter a day will do it for you.

Make a commitment to God and yourself to do that this coming year, starting January first.

Get in the Bible on a regular basis.

During a recent Superbowl, FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand.

When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you."

But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was in that package after all?"

She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds."

Like the contents in this package, the resources for growth and strength are available for every Christian who will take advantage of them.

Contributed by: A. Todd Coget (SermonCentral.com)

When you’re not in the Bible, you miss out on the blessings it has to offer, and you obviously cannot develop a biblical mindset.

The next way to develop this biblical mindset is to…

2. Proactively choose your sources of information.

Choose who you’re going to listen to.

For instance, I generally choose not to let the evening news guide my theology. Even when “religious” people come on the news, I usually don’t let them determine how I view God or the Bible, unless it’s Billy Graham, of course!