Articles
Thinking For Oneself
Thinking For Oneself
And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me? —Esther 6:6
King Ahasuerus has asked Haman what should be done for the man whom the king desired to honor. Haman was so filled with pride that he thought in his heart that there was no one in the kingdom more deserving of this honor than himself. Little did he know that the man to be honored was a man named Mordecai, a man Haman despised greatly (Esther 5:9-14). From Esther, chapters 6 and 7, we learn that Haman’s prideful heart brought to him only deep sorrow, eventually resulting in Haman being hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. I don’t know about you but this reminds me of Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” Today, the words of Paul found in Romans 12:3 sound out a great warning to you and I, “For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
Thinking for oneself is commendable and should be a part of our lives but caution is the watchword here because decisions are often made based not on what the Bible says but made on what is convenient, enjoyable or liked. I have a t-shirt with these words printed on it, “Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.” I suppose that in a feeble way what I am trying to say is that we need to exercise caution in our thinking process because it is much more difficult to readjust our thinking or correct a problem after saying or doing something without due consideration as to the effect it is going to have.
As important as all this is in the temporal realm it is, perhaps, much more important in our spiritual lives. The ingenuity of man is marvelous and as a result of his thinking, some of his accomplishments are astounding. But in the area of directing his own steps spiritually, man is a failure (Jeremiah 10:23). We walk by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) and that faith comes only from hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17). Faith does not come by "I think" but by "what the Bible says". Millions upon millions of people thinking something will not change the word of God. Those who are seeking to one day have that home in heaven prepared by Jesus (John 14:1-3) must be willing to follow only the thinking of God as revealed in His word (Heb.1:1-2; Prov.8:32-35; John 8:47; John 6:68. 2 John 9-11).
Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Never, never think that God's way can be replaced or improved on by man's thinking (Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Peter 1:2-3, 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Charles Hicks, Gallatin Tennessee
