“The mind
is a terrible thing to waste.” It’s time to learn how to study what’s
important.
June’s Awakening, Day 4
All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 NIV
Do
not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his
good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 NIV
Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV
Then
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
NIV
There is nothing more powerful than
the mind and our good control of it. That’s why the spiritual discipline of
study, and especially of reading God’s Word, is so crucial to becoming
spiritually mature. We have already looked at the above Scriptures before in
this devotional, but I have included them here again because of their supreme
importance in the transformation of the mind, taking every thought captive to
the obedience of the mind of Christ, being washed and cleansed with the Word,
and imparting and ingraining those thoughts indelibly forever into our minds.
That’s what study is all about. Our minds take on a specialized order which
conforms to that which it concentrates on. Ingrained habits of thought form by
our perceptions, concentrations, and repetition of thought processes.
Therefore, we study to properly form and retain beneficial habits of thought.
There are “two books” that we
study—the verbal or written book (such as the Bible or hearing a lecture)
and the nonverbal book. We will first look at the verbal, written book
and the four steps in learning how to study. The first step is repetition—ingrained
habits of thought can be formed by repetition alone, without even fully
understanding the information. The second step is concentration—focusing
your attention and faculties on a particular section of the book without
distraction. The third step is comprehension—fully understanding and
knowing the truth. This leads us into insight and discernment, providing the
basis for a true perception of reality. And finally, the fourth step is reflection—this
brings us to the significance of what we have learned and its subsequent
application in our lives.
The practice of study and being a
good learner demands humility and a willingness to spend the necessary time to
implement all the required steps and embrace the topic as one which has the
power to positively influence and transform the thoughts, behaviors, and habits
of your mind. As in everything else, you must learn to study and practice it
often to keep the mental processes sharp and aligned. We all learn in variant
ways, so practice what is most effective for you, whether it be taking notes,
highlighting key words or phrases, visualizing, or just continually mulling it
over and ever in your mind to solidify those neural pathways. Study to learn,
and learn for understanding, application, and transformation.
Tomorrow we will look at some rules
for how to best read a book and the nonverbal book of the world around us.
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