Romans 12:2

Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

It is very wrong to think that Christianity has more to do with faith than reason. This verse makes it very clear that reasoning is the basis for our living the Christian life.

When I read verses like this I am tempted to use human effort to memorize scripture and study the Bible so that my mind will change and I will start doing good things for God. There isn’t anything wrong with trying hard to read and memorize the Bible. The problem is that only doing this does not mean that we will be transformed. Just because we go through the actions of studying and memorizing doesn’t mean that we will start changing our minds and doing what is right.

We have to remember verse one and stay on the altar as living sacrifices. When we are trusting in God and His Holy Spirit, we are able to read and understand the Bible. Memorizing it is a great thing to do as long as the Holy Spirit is there to bring it back into our minds when we need it.

So, it is important to remember that studying doesn’t equal pleasing God but trusting in the Holy Spirit and studying does. God wants us to expose our minds to His word and allow it by the Holy Spirit to change how we think.

If we really want to know God’s will for our lives. This is the way to do it.