June 8

Matthew 16:23 (NIV)
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

At first when I read this verse I was thinking that Jesus was talking to Peter because of the last phrase, “but merely human concerns”, but on closer examination I see that the addressing of the enemy is continued by “alla” in Greek (but) which is a word of contrast. This makes it even more interesting. Satan “ponders” or “considers” or “carefully weighs” the concerns or issues of mankind.

All of satan’s tricks can be summed up in getting us to be concerned about mankind’s issues. C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters does a marvelous job of illustrating this when Uncle Screwtape, (a senior demon) advices his nephew Wormwood, (a junior demon) to not allow his subject (a person who God is trying to save) to argue right and wrong with Christians. He tells him to have him think about how hungry he is, to get him to dwell on a human appetite that needs fulfillment. When we are thinking about all of our concerns which are human, not even evil but human, we CANNOT think about God’s concerns. Doesn’t the scripture say to put the Kingdom first – to seek it – to think about it and pursue it and all the human concerns will be added (given in addition to the things you are pursuing (Kingdom concerns)) to you! Is it any wonder that the battle is in our mind? It is the thoughts and imaginations that must be cast down in order for us to operate in a freedom that allows us to focus ALL of our efforts on the Kingdom of God. That doesn’t mean we don’t work or clean the house, but it does mean that we work and clean the house for the sake of the Kingdom! Whatever you find your hands to do, do it unto the Lord and for His sake.

The way to NOT think about something (human concerns) is to think about something else (God’s affairs). You can’t have two thoughts running through your head at once. When you are anxious, worried, depressed or anything else, start thinking (anyway you can – worship music, reading the Word, listening to teaching…) about the God and His Kingdom.