The human brain is a marvel of creation, its complexity and potential far surpassing any man-made device. With an estimated twelve to fourteen billion cells, each connected to as many as 10,000 others, the brain forms an intricate network of data exchange and processing. To put this into perspective, the brain’s activity has been likened to 1,000 switchboards, each capable of serving a city as large as New York, operating at full capacity as they send and receive countless signals. The electronic equivalent within a single human brain exceeds that of all the world’s radio and television stations combined.
Yet, the brain’s capacity extends beyond mere data processing. It is capable of receiving and interpreting the most subtle inputs, from conceptualizing a universe where time itself is malleable to composing the intricate polyphonic structures of a Bach fugue or even receiving a divine message from God Himself. These are feats that no computer, no matter how advanced, will ever be able to replicate.
The true apex of the human mind’s potential lies in its ability to possess the mind of Christ through the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul affirmed, “But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16), a mind that is continually renewed (Romans 12:2). No technological device will ever be capable of comprehending God’s thoughts, knowing His heart, or accomplishing His works. Yet, the mysterious organ residing within our skulls was created for this very purpose—to embody the mind of Christ.
This God-given potential highlights a profound scandal, as we, as Christians, often fall short of exemplifying the mind of Christ. More frequently than we care to admit, our thoughts and actions do not align with Christian principles. As John Milton eloquently wrote, “A mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n….”1 This inner struggle is a reality for every believer.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we invite Christ to take control of our minds. The book of Proverbs urges us to “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (4:23).
When Jesus quoted the great Shema of Israel, He added a crucial element: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind …” (Mark 12:30).
As philosopher and theologian Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. remarks, “Here is a change worth a gasp. What if a four-year-old prayed outright: ‘Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my brain to keep’? You would notice.”2 This is precisely what our Lord desires and demands—to be the keeper of our minds.
1 John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 255–263.
2 Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., “Pray the Lord My Mind to Keep,” Christianity Today, August 10, 1998, Vol. 49, No. 9, p. 50.
