Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
Colossians 2:8-9
After a fifteen-year gap, I found myself talking once again with my cousin at a family funeral. During our discussion a decade-and-a-half ago, I was encouraged that perhaps this man was close to faith in Jesus Christ. At least he was seeking and asking some very difficult questions. But now, middle-aged, he was asking the very same questions as before and displaying the same supposed agony over the questions of God’s existence, his love, our purpose, death, and eternity. I sadly realized that my cousin was trapped in an intellectual maze: in love with his mind, not the Lord.
Intellectualism can be addictive. Always searching for the answer but never committing to a solution, ever hopeful that some new insight might emerge if we linger in thought just a little longer. The solution to this flawed attitude is the fact that Jesus has accomplished victory over every possible problem that we could encounter because of sin. Jesus is the beginning of all wisdom and the source of all life. Those who would rather keep looking for a better way to live miss the greatest satisfaction of all—the satisfaction of knowing God.
Paul calls us to stand firm in our faith; “But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true . . .” (2 Timothy 3:14). The greatest mystery we will ever encounter is the truth of God’s love for his creation—including us. He loved us enough to become man and then chose to live in us. There is nothing more profound than the incomparable love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There is nothing more challenging, noble, or intellectually stimulating than to follow Christ as his disciple.
Colossians 2:8-9
After a fifteen-year gap, I found myself talking once again with my cousin at a family funeral. During our discussion a decade-and-a-half ago, I was encouraged that perhaps this man was close to faith in Jesus Christ. At least he was seeking and asking some very difficult questions. But now, middle-aged, he was asking the very same questions as before and displaying the same supposed agony over the questions of God’s existence, his love, our purpose, death, and eternity. I sadly realized that my cousin was trapped in an intellectual maze: in love with his mind, not the Lord.
Intellectualism can be addictive. Always searching for the answer but never committing to a solution, ever hopeful that some new insight might emerge if we linger in thought just a little longer. The solution to this flawed attitude is the fact that Jesus has accomplished victory over every possible problem that we could encounter because of sin. Jesus is the beginning of all wisdom and the source of all life. Those who would rather keep looking for a better way to live miss the greatest satisfaction of all—the satisfaction of knowing God.
Paul calls us to stand firm in our faith; “But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true . . .” (2 Timothy 3:14). The greatest mystery we will ever encounter is the truth of God’s love for his creation—including us. He loved us enough to become man and then chose to live in us. There is nothing more profound than the incomparable love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There is nothing more challenging, noble, or intellectually stimulating than to follow Christ as his disciple.
:rainbow: :rose:
