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The Battlefield of the Mind
Jon Burgess3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
The original readers of Paul's letter would have caught Paul's battlefield metaphor right away. The reason the Rome was the ruling kingdom of the then known world can be directly attributed to their military strategy and prowess. When Paul uses the phrase "demolishing strongholds" he is describing the Roman military strategy of setting up a siege against the walls of a city. They could only hold out as long their wall. So, the strategy was for the long haul and they simply began to remove the bricks of the wall one by one. After a while, there would be a hole big enough in the wall to bring their armies through and sac the city and take its spoils. This is what Paul's point is. We don't do this in the physical but we must do this in the spirit of our mind. We must, brick by brick, take down every thought that has set itself up against the full invasion of Jesus Christ and His influence over our lives. The battle is won or lost in the mind.
"I'll never be like Jesus." "This is just how my family has always been." "At least I'm not as bad as that person." These are some common examples of the wall of thoughts that keepsthe reign of Jesus from setting our thought life free. These excuses, these comparisons, this spiritual settling for less allows the enemy to continue to have his way in our decision-making process. Long before we utter a single sinful word, perform a single sinful act, we have already given room for that sin in our minds by walling off the righteous words of God. Judas didn't start out in full on betrayal mode. No, it started with a wall of thoughts being built up between him and Jesus. "Why did he let Mary waste that perfume when it could have been sold?" "Why isn't Jesus acting more like a Messiah and aligning with those in power?" We see the final bricks on thewall being placed at The Last Supper: "The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus." (John 13:2) This was not acceptance of the act, but an acceptance of the idea. It was the inception that would lead to conception and the birth of full born betrayal. The best way to win the battle of sin is to not let it build the wall at all. Paul urges us to "take captive every thought". Don't let them build up. Bring them to the Lord in prayer the moment they try to stay put. Lust, envy, unforgiveness, bitterness, etc. Martin Luther once described our authority over our thought life this way, "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair." Pastor Wayne puts it this way,"TheDevilis aheadhunter, your mind is the battlefield, your imagination is his trophy." ~PastorWayneCordeiro
Lord, I thank You for this powerful reminder this morning. I don't have to be a victim to my thoughts! You have given me the mind of Christ. I choose to take every vain thought and imagination into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ. It's time I started taking seriously the battlefield of the mind so I can the wars of life. Let me never forget, there's a little Judas in me just waiting to grow up and turn against You! Let me not give those thoughts a single brick. Let the walls fall that have been built up against Your full control and influence over my life!
