Chess-Minded?

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1 Corinthians 2:15-16 NKJV "But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For 'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

What it is speaking to me:

I am a thoroughly average chess player. I learned to play as a kid and occasionally get a few games in during any given year. I have never studied the game. I don't know the names of any official openings or moves. I know what each piece is meant to do, and I try to think strategically a few moves ahead to form a plan of attack or defense. While I can dominate my children at the game, my chess prowess stops about there.

A few years ago, I played a college student who was on his college's chess team. It was embarrassing how quickly I was beaten. For every piece I moved, he knew exactly how to adjust his strategy to overwhelm mine and leave my king exposed. I don't even know if he was considered that good among his peers; I just know he was WAY better than me.

Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, "Life is a kind of chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events." Chess is ultimately just a game with low stakes: a little piece of wood gets knocked over at the end. Being bad at chess doesn't really matter.

But life is not a game, and the stakes can be quite high.

It is worth considering that while the stakes in life are significant, we as believers have the mind of Christ available to us — the heavenly mind that shaped us, created us, and formed the world around us. The mind that knows all things, sees all things, and understands all things. That mind is directed toward us. It can instruct us.

Do we avail ourselves of that endlessly powerful resource as often as we should? Or do we press on under our own power, wisdom, knowledge, and experience? I am convinced I sometimes make my own life harder by not appealing to the mind of Christ sooner. There isn't a thing He can't help me through or improve in me — except maybe my chess game.

What is it saying to you?

Do you appeal to the mind of Christ every day?

Do you seek Christ only about spiritual matters, or in practical ones as well? Like your job, home projects, or family life?

What are we going to do about it?

Try approaching a difficult workplace or family problem today by first asking, "How would this problem be solved with wisdom from above?"