Day 245- A Thinking First

I have enjoyed listening to Pandora lately.  This is my new find in music.  One of the ads that has come on a lot lately is for a website called Lumosity.  It is for brain games and brain training. I went on the Lumosity site and got my brain profile for my "first" today.  After doing that, I also went to another site (fitbrain) and did some brain training there to add to my brain "first."

The site asked me to answer a few questions about my brain goals.  I did not see a question that said, "Have you lost yours yet?"  Brain goals are not something I think about a lot. Of course, most people as they age say things like "I just want to stay in my right mind." For some, that may be stretching things a little; the assumption their minds were ever right. So, I do think most of us have some sort of goal of not losing our minds and staying as sharp mentally as we can.

I answered the questions and did some exercises. I had to match things, remember things, and mark my answers with the computer mouse.  I did OK, I guess.  On brain speed, I scored 85% higher than others my age who have taken the test.  My theory is that is really high because only the smartest people actually take these tests.  I have absolutely nothing to base this on except my own desire.  I scored higher than 75% of people on the attention to detail section.  Then, on the memory section I scored higher than 41% of the people.  Is that right?  I'm sorry, I just don't remember if that is correct or not.  Maybe it was 91%.  That sounds better.  It really does, but unfortunately I wrote the results down and it was 41%.  My excuse for that section is that I am not as good with the mouse as other people are. I'm using a laptop and others were probably using something that is much easier to pick out the answers faster.  That's my excuse.

Then, they had a training program designed just for me by brain scientists.  The bad news is that I have to pay a monthly fee to participate. That's where they get you.  At the beginning, it said the account was free.  I guess the account is, but to use it for much, it costs money.  That's when I went to the fitbrain website and they let me play some brain games there. I can't play many, but I can play a few.  I spent some time training my brain today.

The fact that this picture (and others) is right side up on the computer but I can't get it right side up on here is not a big plus for my brain score

I do want to have a healthy brain. How we think affects so much of our lives.  Our thoughts greatly influence our moods, emotions, and attitudes.  Our emotions greatly influence the decisions that we make.  If we are going to live strong for Jesus, we must be aware of what we are thinking about and how we think about life.  There are a lot of false beliefs and unbiblical worldviews floating around in the culture and Christians are very susceptible to these.  That's why the Bible commands us in Romans 12:2 (NLT), "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  A very big part of becoming like Jesus is allowing God to change the way you think.  It is so tempting to think of me first, what I want, or what makes me happy instead of what God wants. A good question to ask a lot is, "What does God think about this particular subject or activity?" The Bible is God's primary way of changing how we think. 

I thought about what I've done today and how God wants me to think about it.  Joel went to baseball practice today.  Do I think about things like:

• Is he one of the best players
• Will his team win first place
• Will he get to play a lot
• What position will he play

Those questions are OK and natural.  The kind of questions I need to be thinking about would be:

• How can he learn more about living for Jesus through baseball
• Is he a good witness on the team
• Am I a good witness in the stands
• Is he submitting to the authority of the coach
• How can I connect baseball to spiritual truths for him

Let's not forget how important what we think about is.  Let God's word never be far from your mind and mouth.   He loves to use His word to change the way we think.

Thinking on the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Kind words
2. Boiled peanuts
3. Romans 12:2