Whose mind?

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Scripture

And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day.
(Deuteronomy 34:6 NASB)
Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.
(Deuteronomy 34:7 NASB)
So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.
(Deuteronomy 34:8 NASB)
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
(1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB)
But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.
(1 Corinthians 2:15 NASB)
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 2:16 NASB)

Observation

We come to the end of Moses' life. The scripture tells us that he is the only prophet who speaks with God face to face. If you look closely at the end of his life you discover that he dies on Mount Nebo while in conversation with God. Moses was now 120 years old and his personal relationship with God was like no other. He was still a healthy man and yet, he was not to cross over into the promised land, so God took him to his side. The scripture tells us that God, himself, buried Moses so that no man would know where that was. Moses would not have wanted a monument built to himself, but rather, one built to honor God. The Israelites mourned his death for thirty days, but when the time had come to an end, they knew they needed to move on. Joshua was the new leader for the new day and they knew that they would have to follow after him, and so they did.

Let's jump to I Corinthians. Paul is also talking about people having a deep personal relationship with God. A new era had been ushered in with the death/resurrection of Christ and the optimistic hope of life in the Spirit. It was time to move on from the old life and to accept a new leader. It was another time of transition in the life of the Israelites, and beyond. To live life in the Spirit was to understand things on a whole new level. It was to move over into the promised land through personal transformation. For us, gone are the years of wandering in the wilderness, but rather, the new life where we have the mind of Christ.

Application

Too often we hearken back, or long for the good old days. The Israelites did that often -- even looking back from time to time to the years of wandering in the wilderness with great longing. For centuries they looked back on Moses and yearned for a leader such as he. We, too, sometimes look back to the "good old days." In reality, they may not have been that "good." Instead, we are being asked to bury the past and move on to a new future that God has for us, but only when we have put on the "mind of Christ." We are "transformed" by the "renewing of our minds." When we are filled with the Holy Spirit the spiritual compass for our lives is reset and we are redirected into a new life with the promise of God's holy presence going with us. We, again, have the opportunity of having "face to face" conversation with God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I'm afraid that too often we are holding onto a past that was not all that pleasant, and God wants to provide us with so much more. Let go of those things, allow his mind to fill our minds and our thoughts so that we can live in the transformation of new life.

Prayer

Father, God, help me to walk humbly with you today. Amen.

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