What we sometimes want the most is for no one to tell us what to think. Of course, we think this at times as children. We just want to be on our own, to be able to do our own thing, and to explore the world and think for ourselves. But there are times we experience the same thing as adults. We get tired of the media, friends, bosses, and others telling us what to think. “We can think for ourselves!,” we declare.
When we get what we want–the opportunity to think for ourselves–we have to actually think for ourselves. We have to do the tough work of wrestling and determining what we think. It’s easier said than done. We’re not going to come up with unique thoughts, something no one else on earth has ever thought before us. We’re not going to be able to set aside everything we have heard and seen throughout our lives. Some we will forgot. Some we would like to forget. Some we would be better off if we would remember better.
At some point, we’re going to have to think for ourselves, whether it’s been a goal for a long time or we are reluctantly nudged into adulting. With that thinking comes responsibility. God didn’t create us to grow and mature without purpose. He didn’t give us rational minds to underuse or misuse them. He didn’t give us choice, intending for us to choose pride, but it is always an option. We can go our own way, but it certainly won’t be new. We can go His way, and it won’t be new either. New and different may make us feel better or more accomplished as if following a path someone before us has taken would be lazy or weak of us. But setting the familiar aside doesn’t assume we are thinking more or better. It might mean we are not exploring a road as thoroughly as intended.
Where are you journeying? What are you thinking?
Pure Purpose 