PURGE YOUR MIND

God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt with a Mighty Hand. They were delivered from bondage, freed from slavery, no longer under the Egyptian task masters been beaten, afflicted and made to serve with rigor. They were free from Egypt’s oppression. By His divine favor they came out of Egypt rich with jewelry and clothes taken from the Egyptians. The feared Pharaoh and his mighty army were later destroyed before their very eyes in the Red Sea; by the same all powerful, Almighty God, who had done wonders in Egypt before bringing them out. When they became hungry He fed them with manna and Quails and when they were thirsty He gave them water to drink; even from the rock. He talked to them at Sinai displaying His awesome power in their presence. They had God on their side, working for and with them; but were in discontent as they remembered the food of the Egyptians; forgetting the afflictions, the pain and the rigor with which they had been made to serve. So they complained against God. “When they complained, it displeased the Lord: and their murmuring caused His anger to be kindled against them. He therefore sent fire to burn among them, consuming those in the uttermost parts of the camp. The people cried to Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was stopped. Moses then called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. Soon the Israelites started lusting again: and they cried saying: “who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes” (Numbers 11:1-6). They were unable to appreciate the fact that they were set free and should be looking ahead to the better life which God had already promised them. Physically they were in the wilderness of Sinai but mentally they were still in Egypt. Egypt was better to them and they longed for the food. They whom God had emancipated were in mental slavery in Egypt bound by the food strong cord of memories. They were been controlled by the minor things of life and missing the greater blessings which were before them; right in their grasp. Their focus was on the food which was left behind and not on the promised blessings ahead; the promises of God who had done such great miracles before their very eyes.

Many of us today are facing the same problem. Having been set free; we remain in bondage to those things from which we have been completely delivered. We refuse to let go, holding on to useless memories and forever looking back. The mind still has in store the memories of those sinful and evil deeds which God by Jesus Christ erased from His Book of life; but we refuse to delete from our memory bank. They play sweet melodies on our minds, as viable alternatives to consider when we are faced with the challenges of life, to reach back and tale hold of. We soon develop a longing to return to them or find some way to incorporate them in our lives again. Mentally we live them over and over again. An example that is so often played out is: that of husbands or wives who are still cherishing the memories of past intimate relationships; even to the jeopardy of their present marriage relationships, not been able to let go.  It is not only the Christian that is so affected, but it is the Christian that has been so delivered who should know it. It is Christ who set us free. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8: 36). It’s time to PURGE YOUR MIND; free yourself from this Mental Backwash, which is pulling you away from the peaceful shores, back into the depths and billows of the churning Backwater of destructions. Free up the memory bank of your mind for the continued implantation of the engrafted Word of God. Open up the flood gates of the Gospel and let it flow into the fertile gardens of your heart and mind that you may feed there from and that others may reap also. Let the word so saturate your heart and mind that its indelible stains may coat everything that proceeds there from. “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Set your face hard like a flint and know that you shall not be ashamed (Isaiah 50:7).

Beloved: if you are still in bondage to that from which you have been set free; get on the One Way Street with Jesus. Follow Him, let Him show you the Way. In Him there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Know the Word, love the Word and spread the Word. Love you always with the love of Jesus.

W. Bennett