Love the Lord with All Your Mind

In the same way our bodies can get out of shape, our minds can also grow sluggish. Our ability to concentrate can grow weaker, the level of reading we can retain can diminish, and even our ability to think quickly and logically can begin to falter. The mind is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows, and we need to keep up our training. I am convicted of this because I have not been as diligent as I should be on this front.

This summer, I am teaching a class at the law school that will cover the core institutions and values of the Western legal system. The subject matter will include several theological and philosophical underpinnings. In preparation for this class, I must add a minimum of ten hours a week of study to my schedule. Whether or not I will succeed at this level of study remains to be seen.

To give it my best effort, I have scheduled two hours of study every Monday through Thursday evening—I lock myself in my study from 7 pm to 9 pm. I also include some weekend hours as well. This pattern will need to continue for the next 15 weeks.

The first week was difficult. Though I regularly read and write, it is usually not at this level of rigor. The first week of study is like the first week of a new workout regimen; your body is not used to it, it feels every exertion you make, and it is sore and tired afterward. It is not usually until week two or three that the body begins to feel good during the workouts, and you start to look forward to them.

Speaking from my current experience, the same is true regarding mental rigor. Last night, I completed study session six and am already noticing the difference. It makes me excited to see the progress as I continue. Not only do I enjoy what I am studying, but I am treating these study times like training sessions. Some will be better than others, but consistency is what matters.

Why do I mention all of this? Because Scripture tells us we are to love the Lord with all our minds. Yes, we are to love God with more than the mind alone, but in our current culture, we quickly spend hours giving our minds to countless trivialities. The reason we do it is because it is easy. Everything tends toward the path of least resistance, including our mental faculties.

If we allow ourselves to do so, we will continue to hand our hearts and minds to hours of TV binge-watching and social media. The more we do it, the more spiritually and mentally sluggish we will become. We need to learn to say “Yes” to difficult things. We need to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones. If we are not in the correct mindset, when the Lord says, “Follow me. I have something for you to do, but it won’t be easy,” our inclination will be to say, “Choose someone else and leave me be. I am comfortable on my couch.”

It doesn’t matter what we are called to do; we cannot do it properly without doing it with all our minds. So, my question to you is this. Is it time to reevaluate how you are using your mind to glorify God? Is it time to get into mental shape so when the Lord says, “Let’s go,” you will be ready? Or has he already given you the opportunity of service, and it is time to turn off the TV or put down the phone and set aside an hour or two a couple of times a week for the study of Scripture and prayer? When Scripture tells us to love the Lord with all our minds, do our lives align with that blessed command?

-D. Eaton