9月22日
标 题：预备你的心
经 节：所以要约束你们的心，谨慎自守，专心盼望耶稣基督显现的时候所带来给你们的恩。（彼得前书一章13节）
你的心思意念是一件美好的东西！你可以熟背改变生命的经文，成为每日生活的力量。你可以默想神的话，发现神庄严伟大的真理。你可以分辨真理与谬误；你可以回忆神过去的祝福。
一些最有能力的神仆，训练自己的心思意念来服事神。摩西曾经在埃及的最高学府受教育，他为以色列人编辑律法书。以赛亚以自己博学的背景，写出圣经中占有崇高地位的先知书。保罗曾经受教于迦玛列的门下，迦玛列是当代最杰出的教师。保罗因着这些训练成为神手中的器皿，描述出新约中许多的神学理论。
可悲的是，今日的基督徒并没有操练他们的心思意念，好为神所使用。他们允许其他人为他们思考属灵的事。如果他们在一本书上可以查找神学思想，就不会费心去研读神的话。如果讲员说了一些权威性的话，他们查都不查，也不管他的话是否合乎圣经标准，就马上接受他的看法。
保罗鼓励基督徒要努力使心志成熟（哥林多前书十四：20）。他说自己属灵的心思意念虽不成熟，然而，他已经操练自己的心思，好能够明了神最伟大的真理（哥林多前书十三：11）。他不允许其他人为他思考。当你成为基督徒时，神会更新你的心思意念（罗马书十二：2）。要使用自己的心思意念在荣耀神的事情上。
Prepare Your Mind
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober,
and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)
Your mind is a wonderful thing! You can memorize
life-changing passages of Scripture that can undergird you in your daily life;
you can meditate upon God’s Word, discovering His magnificent truths; you can
discern between truth and falsehood; you can recall God’s past blessings.
Some of God’s most effective servants were those
who disciplined their minds for His service. Moses, educated in the best
schools of Egypt, assembled the books of the Law for the Israelites. Isaiah
used his scholarly mind to write an exalted prophetic book in Scripture. Paul
learned under Gamaliel, the outstanding teacher of his day, and it was through
Paul that God presented much of the theology found in the New Testament.
Sadly, many Christians today do not exercise their
minds to be of service to God. They allow others to do their spiritual thinking
for them. If they can find their theology from a book, they will not bother to
study God’s Word themselves. If a speaker makes an authoritative statement,
they readily accept it without verifying whether it is biblical.
Paul urged Christians to strive for maturity in
their thinking (1 Cor. 14:20). He said there was a time when his spiritual
thinking was immature, but he had prepared his mind to know and understand the
great truths of God (1 Cor. 13:11). He had not allowed others to do his
thinking for him. When you became a Christian, God renewed your mind (Rom.
12:2). Be certain to use your mind in a way that brings glory to God.
