#LearningToThink

Rewards are all the vogue today. Banks use them, grocery stores use them, stores use them, gasoline stations use them because they have proven to draw customers back. The store where I work has a rewards program. I was a customer of this chain before I became an employee and was in the rewards program, but I did not know how it worked and, so, never took advantage.

One day I happened to read my receipt and there was some important information there besides the calculations. It showed my point balance and how many actual dollars those points were worth. I realized that I had thrown away info for years, unread, and decided that others were doing as I had done and they needed to know all about it in order to use it properly. I began taking time with customers and sharing this and nobody knew what they had and all were pleased as punch to find out how much value they had waiting for them to tap into.

Knowledge is the key. You can't even discern correctly unless you have the facts. We don't take time to read the small print. We are too busy on our phones sharing how we feel or what just happened to us or what someone just said. We don't take time to think. We don't even realize how influenced we are by the environment we are constantly exposed to for we have nothing to compare it to.

If I told you that you were enmity to God, you would probably deny it. Romans 8:7 says we are enmity, hostility and rebellion to God in our natural state and those words are nouns, not adjectives describing us. We are rebellion, not just acting rebellious, naturally. Once you become a new creature in Christ, by faith, you are in reality a baby believer and God doesn't just wiggle His nose and make you a mature believer. You have work to do. You have to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. Romans 12:1 and 2 tells us not to copy the behavior and customs of this world, but to let God change us by changing the way we think and that means the way your mind thinks.

The way your mind is changed is by what it put into it. The old adage is so true "Garbage in - Garbage out", lies in - lies out, truth in - truth out. If God's truth is not in your mind, you do not have truth to contemplate. Study takes time and effort, but even a regular, daily time of reading God's word will have benefits. It will cause you to question the what is said and the why it is said, the to whom it was said and how you can apply it to yourself. It will give you guidelines for your behavior and facts you can incorporate into your faith system that will enable you to answer questions. These reward points add up for value to your growth. You will be learning to think God's thoughts.