I was listening to Earl Nightingale’s audio program Lead the Field earlier this week. I have listened to this recording about 5-6 times now, and something hit me once again. Mr. Nightingale taught that one of the things we can do to make ourselves successful (success being defined as “the pursuit of a worthy goal”) is to engage our minds in a rare but powerful excercise: thinking.

What? We think all the time!

It wasn’t until I listened to his illustrations a few times that it really impacted me. As I saw my past and how my thought had in many ways brought me to where I was, I realized that I had engaged my mind so poorly during those previous years. Sure I got A’s in the public school system. Sure I could ace tests. And I could even present messages for the churches I have served on a regular basis. In fact, I did many things really well.

As I heard this audio again, I began thinking…

This is the truly challenging thing about the use of our minds: We must not gauge how well we have done or are doing by measuring ourselves up with other people. God didn’t make my mind like yours. We each have different strengths and weaknesses, and only God knows our full mental potential. If we are not pressing our limits, seeking to learn more and do more with our thinking, then we are likely being poor stewards of the wonderful gift of the mind.

To tell the truth, thinking is possibly the most underused gift that God has given mankind. We keep up with the culture, with what we are told to do, and with what already makes sense to us. But the “measure of a man” is how man uses his mind (This certainly holds true for ladies as well ). It is this mind that God designed to ultimately pursue the knowledge of our LORD. It is also this very ability to think for ourselves that allows us to creatively think about how we can fulfill our life’s mission.

This week, be challenged to use your mind to the fullest. God didn’t create that pile of grey matter to sit unstretched and flabby. He made us for big things. He made us for adventure.