Day 178, Year 1

Removing Obstacles to Know the Lord

… “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV)

For some people, hearing the Lord Jesus’ voice and then opening their doors of hearts for Him is very simple. But for some others, it can be extremely difficult. The “argument” and “high thing” mentioned in today’s verse not only hinder people from knowing Jesus, but might also cause them to disobey Him, or even reject Him who wants to get into their lives.

“Argument” is logismos in Greek, meaning “reckoning, computation, reasoning, conscious decisions or judgment (that are hostile to the Christian faith).” Some translations render it as “imaginations.” “High thing” is hupsoma in Greek, meaning “thing elevated, or elevated structure, such as a barrier or rampart.” These hostile thoughts or beliefs towards God and the things that people exalt hinder them from knowing and obeying Him. These might be certain decisions and habits established before our conversion, as well as beliefs, imaginations, and fallacies influenced by other people and societies.

“Argument” and “high thing” reveal the two main reasons why people reject Jesus. First, they might think: Why do I need Jesus when I have someone or something better? That “someone or something better” consists of things that are hostile to Jesus. Second, isn’t there at least one thing or problem that Jesus cannot solve? The problem, then, has been elevated to a higher position than Jesus. For instance, some people believe that Jesus cannot solve their relationship or career problems. Conversely, to have lasting faith in Jesus, we must actively cast down the strongholds of thoughts and things within us that are against or have been replacing Jesus Christ in any way.

In the context of today’s verse, Paul pointed out that although some people in the Corinthian church believed in Jesus, not every thought of theirs had chosen to obey the Lord. Many of them at that time still felt the need to follow worldly trends. In other words, they had indeed opened their hearts and let Jesus enter, but they had not comprehensively made Jesus their Lord. Thus, simply opening the door to let Jesus come in is not enough. We need to actively examine everything within and remove all thoughts and things that are hostile toward Him or in conflict with His mind. Only then will our hearts be suitable for the Lord to abide. Of course, if you encounter someone like Paul who can help you completely submit to Jeusu Christ, you need to be willing to cooperate with His work through them.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you have any thoughts or habits within you that are hostile to or separated from God? If so, what will you do?

2) Are there any beliefs or people that have been wrongly exalted within you, hindering your complete submission to the Lord Jesus? If so, how will you rely on Him to remove them?