18
Willingness of Mind
| Bro Francis Odiko (Ateiku-Wassa, Ghana)
U
nless there is a willingness of mind to
know or to learn there will be no
progress. This applies at all levels of knowl-
edge so that a non-believer will only learn
the gospel if he has a mind willing to find the
truth, and a brother or sister will only
develop in wisdom and understanding if there
is the same willingness to progress. It is the
lack of willingness of mind rather than a lack
of natural ability which is the main reason for
the low and falling standard of scriptural
understanding amongst us. The proverb asks
the vital question: ?How long, ye simple
ones, will ye love simplicity?? (Proverbs
1:22).
Jeremiah showed the willing approach when
the law was discovered in the reign of Josiah:
?Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
and thy word was unto me the joy and
rejoicing of mine heart? (Jeremiah 15:6).
Similarly Psalm 119 is full of expressions of a
willing heart to learn God?s way: ?O how love
I thy law! It is my meditation all the day?
(verse 97) and, ?How sweet are thy words
unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to
my mouth!? (verse 103).
In these passages the willingness comes from
a true appreciation of the inestimable privi-
lege of having access to the word of God:
?For what nation is there so great, who hath
God so nigh unto them ?? And what nation
is there so great, that hath statutes and
judgements so righteous as all this law ???
The Lord Jesus taught that ?the kingdom of
heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field;
which when a man hath found, he hideth,
and for joy thereof and goeth and selleth all
that he hath, and buyeth that field?
(Matthew 13:44). The root of the parable is
in Proverbs 2:1-5: ?My son, if thou wilt
receive my words and hide my command-
ments with thee, so that thou incline thine
ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding; yea, if thou criest after
knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for
understanding; if thou seekest her as silver,
and searchest for her as for hid treasures,
then shalt thou understand the fear of the
Lord, and find the knowledge of God?.
The words ?incline?, ?apply?, ?criest?,
?liftest?, ?seekest? and ?searchest?, all
emphasize an intensity of effort resulting
from a deep desire to find wisdom. Without
the true estimation of the treasure there
will not be sufficient willingness and effort,
and consequently no treasure found. And
lest any should fear that focusing on personal
effort and application is tending towards self-
confidence, we should always remember that
even when the treasure is found, it is because
the Lord has provided it for us, as Proverbs
goes on immediately to say: ?For the Lord
giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh
knowledge and understanding. He layeth up
sound wisdom for the righteous? (verses 6-
7).
With regard to willingness of mind, there are
shining examples in the scriptures that
Christadelphians have to follow. The Bereans
displayed three crucial aspects of the right
approach to God?s word. Directly related to
1 Thessalonians 2 is the estimation which
they had for the word of the Old Testament
scriptures. It was their authority in matters
of truth: they ?searched the scriptures daily?
to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).
The new word preached by Paul had to be
consistent with their Old Testament. The
Greek word for ?searched? (according to the
Greek Dictionary by James Strong) is one
which means to scrutinize, investigate, inter-
rogate, determine, ask, question, discern,
examine or judge. These imply repeated and
critical examination. And the Bereans carried
this out ?daily?.
The second lesson to be derived from the
Bereans is their motivation for Bible study-
?to find out whether these things were so? .
A desire to learn the ways of God is the only
sound motive for Bible study. It requires that
at all times we have the humility to accept
the correction of deep-rooted and cherished