There is a great TV commercial that has run for some time here in Canada. It is advertising a sleep-aid product. The camera focuses on a woman tossing and turning in bed as a digital clock progresses through the hours of the night. A voice-over relates the thoughts that are supposedly going through her mind while she is unable to sleep. As the time passes, the thoughts become ever more frenetic and irrational. The final thought expressed as the alarm clock reads 3:00 a.m. is "what if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?"
Every time I see that commercial it makes me laugh. Probably I find it so funny because I often find myself in the same situation. I often have trouble sleeping and some of the most wild and irrational thoughts can come to my mind in the early hours of the morning.
I would suggest there is also a bit of a warning in this commercial. We humans pride ourselves on our ability to reason - to think clearly about the world around us. Unfortunately, there are many things other than sleep deprivation that can lead us onto the track of irrationality. Stress, lack of information, and even our emotions can very easily lead our minds astray. While still thinking that we are the epitome of reason, we can be half-way down the trail of incredibly looney thinking.
So how do we guard ourselves?
What is needed is an objective source of reason and truth outside of ourselves by which we can test every thought. Fortunately, we as Christians have the perfect tool to accomplish this task - the Bible. By it we can test every thought to see whether it measures up to the standard of God's truth. By it we can truly accomplish the apostle Paul's challenge:
Every time I see that commercial it makes me laugh. Probably I find it so funny because I often find myself in the same situation. I often have trouble sleeping and some of the most wild and irrational thoughts can come to my mind in the early hours of the morning.
I would suggest there is also a bit of a warning in this commercial. We humans pride ourselves on our ability to reason - to think clearly about the world around us. Unfortunately, there are many things other than sleep deprivation that can lead us onto the track of irrationality. Stress, lack of information, and even our emotions can very easily lead our minds astray. While still thinking that we are the epitome of reason, we can be half-way down the trail of incredibly looney thinking.
So how do we guard ourselves?
What is needed is an objective source of reason and truth outside of ourselves by which we can test every thought. Fortunately, we as Christians have the perfect tool to accomplish this task - the Bible. By it we can test every thought to see whether it measures up to the standard of God's truth. By it we can truly accomplish the apostle Paul's challenge:
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2Co 10:4-5 ESV)
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