The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Take Time to Think

Episode Date: January 22, 2021

When was that last time you just sat down and meditated on life? Today, Jeff talks about the importance of taking time daily to think. Snippet from the Show “Think differently as the people of God.��� Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kavana show, episode 202. I need some time to think. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show.

Hey, thanks for joining me. me again came out to the cabin out in the woods here, deep in the woods of Minnesota, and I want to talk about a topic that many of us think about, no pun intended, but we don't get around to very often, and that is the art of thinking, taking some time to just think, putting down the Netflix series, putting down social media, all other forms. of stimulation and just thinking. I want to talk about that today and give you some guidelines on what it means to really be a Christian thinker and to take the time to think about things that are really, really important. I have all kinds of scriptures and some quotes for you today,

and I'll give those to you in the show notes. All you have to do is if you're not on board already, all you have to do is text my name, Jeff Kavens, and you can text it to three 3777. At the time of this broadcast, the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike Schmitz and myself, I think it's number two in the country now. 17 days at number one. Now it's number two. And wow, is it really got some traction? We've got television news stations and podcasts and newspapers calling. They want to know what in the world is going on. How come in the midst of all this craziness in the world today, how come a podcast about reading the Bible is number one? And at the time of this podcast, the coming Sunday, the third Sunday in ordinary time,

it is a Sunday that Pope Francis has set aside as a Sunday to think about the word of God. And that's going to play into what I'm going to share with you during this show. You've seen it yourself, a man sits alone on a rock, absorb, and thought. He leans forward with his elbow on his knee and hand supporting his chin, clearly focused. He intently casts his eyes downward, known as the thinker. This bronze sculpture represents the creative mind at work. Although the figure is seated, he is not at rest. Rodin, the French artist who created this sculpture, stated, what makes my thinker think, is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils, and compressed

lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back and legs, with his clenched fist and gripping toes. Well, everybody knows that famous statue, the thinker, and certainly he is very intent on thinking and almost seems like uptight in some ways. that is not the kind of thinking that I'm talking about here today. You know, we have been given a marvelous gift with our brain. Our brain is unlike any computer in the world. Our brain is made up of 100 billion neurons. And that is the same as all the stars in the galaxy.

It's almost like a macro-micro comparison. and and this is what really gets me thinking too is that is that our brains are so powerful and they say that we have on average of 70,000 thoughts per day. Isn't that something? 70,000 thoughts per day, but they are typically random and they are disjointed and some of those thoughts are focusing on bad things, sinful things, fearful things, the future. So many random thoughts. Wouldn't it be nice to just take some time, whether it be 15 minutes or a half an hour, an hour, or a day like the Sabbath, and just think about other things, about important things,

about the will of God for your life, about the goodness of God and the gifts of God, beauty. That's what I want to talk to you about today. And I don't think we take the time like we should. You might call it meditating, but I think there's a difference between meditating and active thinking about life. Some of the great thinkers that you're familiar with right away, the names come up, Einstein, Edison, Galileo, Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Aristotle. People like St. Thomas Aquinas, these are certainly great thinkers. But deep thinking is not something that is just something that famous people do. It's something that we should all be doing. And it goes beyond thinking about things like, what would you do if you won the lottery? Now, the Italians have something that is beautiful, and it's Dolce Farniente. It's a It is the sweet art of doing nothing. And I'm not recommending just doing nothing, like nothing, nothing, but the sweet art of thinking,

of relaxing and thinking about the important things in life. Take note, when was the last time that you did it? My good friend, Miriam, says that concerning Dolce Farniente, it says that life has a rhythm of its own here, deliciously slow in languid. the kind of Dolce Farniente, the sweetness of doing nothing that makes for the very best kind of holiday. Now, one of the things that we do when we set aside some time to just think is that we change our perspective on life when we do some deep thinking. Because as Matthew's Gospel talks about in chapter four in verse 17. Changing your mind really is the central theme of Jesus' first

sermon, that we would change our mind. We would think like Jesus. Repentance is literally a change of mind that is followed by a corresponding action or a radical reorientation of our life to Christ. Abraham Lincoln said, give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will. will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Do you spend time sharpening the axe? Do we ever take time to sharpen the axe? Or we just chop, chop, chop? And the more you do that, without taking some time to sharpen the axe, the duller the blade becomes, the harder the work becomes, and the longer it will take you to get your task done. I think it's really healthy to sharpen the axe, to stop, and just just think. I actually did this earlier today. I took a half an hour, put everything away,

and I just thought. What did I think about? I was thinking about the beauty of nature, and it's easy out here in the woods, but thinking about the beauty of nature and how marvelous God is in his creation. And I got to tell you, it was refreshing to do that. I want to share with you some scriptures that really focus on thinking to give you some, I guess, some suggestions, some boundaries, if you will, on what we need to do in our thinking and what we need to avoid in our thinking. And I think this will help you to have a more fruitful time if you'll take that half an hour, take that hour a week or a day to just think. Jeremiah says in chapter 33 and verse three, and all these will be in the show,

notes. He says, call to me and I will answer you. This is God talking. Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. You see, the only way that we're going to find out that kind of information is if we take the time to call out to the Lord and settle our hearts down so that we can receive what the Lord might want to give us. at this particular time in your life, whatever you're going through. Wouldn't it be nice to know the hidden things that you don't know that God wants to show you? Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said, think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Now, that is really interesting because Paul was constantly giving people, Paul was constantly

giving people advice, and he's writing to Timothy, and he certainly has given Timothy a lot of advice, some of it in writing, and I'm sure that some of it was just in their encounters with one another, where Paul would give him direction and correction. And then he writes to this young Timothy, who was a pastor in Ephesus, and he says, think over what I said. I've told you some things. I want you to think it over. And this is really a good idea when it comes to reading the word of God and listening to the words of Jesus or reading the catechism of the church. After you have read, think it over. Don't just read it and bookmark it and walk away and say, well, I've got my devotions done. I don't think that devotions are just ripping through

scripture or a book or a devotional book that you're reading. I think it's good to savor it by thinking it over. It's kind of like a fine glass of wine. You don't just guzzle it, you know, take the gum out of your mouth and taste it. Think over what I say, says Paul. God will give you understanding and everything, but you've got to think it over and take some time to do it. Paul was really big. I've got a lot of quotes from Paul actually on thinking. He wrote to the Philippians, and he actually gives them ideas. on what to think about, at least some guidelines on what to think about. And this has been one of my favorite scriptures for quite some time. I remember giving a seminar on Philippians chapter 4 and

verse 8, clear back when I was 22 years old, I was in Pella, Iowa, and I gave a seminar on thinking, clear back then. A lot of years have gone by since. And hopefully my thinking skills have been honed, you know, somewhat. Here's what he says. He says, finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. That's so good, isn't it? I've got to think about that for just a moment. That is so good that Paul is actually giving you a list and saying, think about these things. Now, be honest, over the last couple of months, with all that's been

going on in politics and COVID and in the church, what have you been thinking about? If you've been thinking about things other than Philippians 4-8, I would guess that you've just about had it. You're tired. You're worn out. You're discouraged. You're brought down low, maybe even depressed, anxious. Well, if you sit and think about everything that's going on in Washington, I would guess that you could end up in an anxious state or a depressed state, an uncertain state. But Paul says, think about what's true. What is true? Well, Jesus Christ is true. His teachings are true. about what's honorable. Think about what is just and pure, lovely, commendable. Think about things that are worthy of praise. Certainly take some time every week, and whether it's a half an hour, an hour,

or two or three hours on one day a week, just sit back and think about these things. And later on, I'm going to challenge you to come up with maybe two or three questions that you are really wondering about, and you can just, you can just, you know, sit back and think about those things. He wrote to the Colossians in chapter 3 in verse 2, and he said, set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Now, what he's talking about there is that there's earthly thinking, and there's things that are earthly, that we don't want to just sit and think about these things. We want to think about the things that are above. That's God's will, God's perspective. It's everything that Paul mentioned in Philippians 4-8. Set your mind on those

things. Again, if you don't set aside time, the chances are you're not going to set your minds on things that are above. And when life gets kind of crazy and you start to think about, things that are not healthy, not going to be of encouragement to you. If you do that, well, you're going to pay for it. You're going to pay for it. He said to the Romans in chapter 8, he said, for those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. Wow, this is great advice coming right from the scripture to just to take some time and to set your mind on

the things of the spirit, what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in your own life, what the Holy Spirit is doing in terms of leading you out in the area of events. in the area of instructing other people, whether it be family members or friends at church or a Zoom call, even. The next one is 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 5. Paul says, we destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. think about this one for a moment how many hours of television have you watched in the last week I mean think about it all of the prime time news shows and everything that you put on DVR and you went back and you heard all of these all of these lofty opinions all of these arguments all of these accusations all of these you know these shows that talk about

what's really happening behind the scenes, and how many alternative apps have you put on your phone just so you could hear all of these opinions? I'm telling you, it isn't good for your soul. It's not good for your mind. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10-5, we destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. You would not believe the number of texts and emails I have received in the last two months that talk about every single conspiracy theory that you could possibly imagine. And if we sat and dwelt on these 24-7, no wonder we're discouraged and no wonder we're anxious. Paul says, take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I love that. One more before the

break, Ecclesiastes 1020. Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice or some winged creature tell the matter. You know, you might not like the way the elections turned out and it doesn't sit right with you for one reason or another, but we as the followers of Christ, we're not the ones to curse the king. We don't curse the president. That's just not the way we operate. That's not the way we think. We think differently. To use a phrase from Steve Jobs, think differently. Think differently, not just in terms of technology, but think differently as the people of God. Well, I want to take a break. When I come back, I have some other scriptures and some challenges for you about how to put this into practice in everyday life. My friend, you're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ chose corrupt, broken, imperfect, sinful men to be the foundation of his church. And because these broken, imperfect men chose to remain in relationship with Jesus, they became saints.

And they were used by Jesus to transform hearts and minds 2,000 years later. I invite you to check out my book, Broken and Blessed, where you'll find practical tools to overcome habitual sin, to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to walk with an imperfect church toward a perfect God who is calling all of us to perfection over time. To order the paperback book or audiobook, Broken and Blessed, visit ascensionpress.com or Amazon.

Okay, we're talking about I need some time to think. And boy, don't you? We need some time to think, but we need to think on the right things. We need to think deeply about our relationship with the Lord, our family life, what our goals are in life, the opportunities that Jesus gives us in everyday life. The mysteries of the universe, the beauty of creation. We need to think. about these? Why do I do? Think about these things. Isaiah 55, Isaiah writes, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. This is God talking. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways. My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. So we know right out of the gate that God's thoughts are far

above our thoughts and his ways are far above our ways. But the way we bridge that gap is we spend time meditating on His Word and thinking these wonderful thoughts that I spoke about before the break in Philippians 4-8. We can come to know the mind of Christ. Paul writes that to the Romans, that we know the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ, but it has to be a disciplined mind that takes every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Oh, I think it's a good thing to just take a walk sometimes and ask the Lord to help us in our thinking and perhaps pose a question to the Lord and mull it over. Think about it from different angles and ask the Lord to show us his ways and his thoughts about, you name it, whatever it might be that you are dealing

with in life right now. The psalmist in the longest chapter of the Bible, Psalm 119, which by the way, the whole chapter is about the word of God. And in verse 15, the psalmist says, I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Isn't that good? When was the last time you just took a half an hour to meditate on a verse in the Bible. When was the last time you took time to to exercise Lexio divina with scripture? That is to read it and to meditate upon it and to pray about it and to contemplate it? Just one text, a half an hour. Wow. I know, I know from my own experience that when I do that, I typically come away from that exercise refreshed, new perspective, a new way of thinking. It's kind of like my wife and I during these COVID months sitting in the house. It's cold in

Minnesota right now. And she says, you know what, we just got to take a walk. Let's go take a walk. And so we do. And we walk around a portion of the lake and we come back home. And we feel different. We exercised our body. We got fresh air in our lungs. And that's the way it is in our thinking, too. You know, we exercise our mind and thinking. We get fresh new oxygen in our thoughts.

And it's amazing how life looks differently after you've exercised. It's amazing how life looks different after you've given some thought to a particular problem. You know, one of my favorite passages in the catechism is paragraph 236, because it talks about two of the most important things that we could think about. It talks about theology and economy. With theology, we're talking about the mystery of the Trinity, even more to the point. We're talking about the heart of our Heavenly Father. That's important to think about the heart of the heart of your Heavenly Father? Because when you think about the heart of our Father, we come to know his ways and what he thinks about us and what he hopes will become. We gain a certain certitude,

a foundation of trust when we sit and think about the heart of our Heavenly Father. But you only will come to know that heart if you'll read Scripture, if you'll read the Catechism. and take some time to do some deep thinking about the heart of your father. The second part of that paragraph, 236, is the economy of God, which is his fatherly household plan. So if you're looking for things to think about, think about the heart of your heavenly father. Think about the heart of Jesus. Think about his plan, his plan for you, his plan for the church, his plan for

the world. Go deep with it. Don't just think about it for two or three minutes. Go sit under a tree for a half an hour with nothing in your hands. Just think. Just think about the marvelous creation of God. His heart and his plan. You know, one thing that you might think about doing is to come up with two or three questions to think about. I'm talking about questions that you would never address if you didn't stop and give yourself time. One of the questions might be, why do I respond to my children the way I do? For good or for bad. why do I respond to my wife the way I do?

Another question, what's really important this week in my life? Another question, what can I do to create an atmosphere in my home of love and mercy and justice? I could go on and on with some good questions, but why don't you take some time this week and come up with two or three questions that not just questions because they're questions, but questions you really want to know the answer to. Only you know. Your questions might be different than my questions, but what are some questions that you have? Write them down on an index card or I was going to say your smartphone, but forget that. Don't take that with you. Write them down on an index card or a piece of paper and go on a walk.

go sit down at a park, you know, go to a place in your home that's quiet. Look out the window and just do some thinking about this. You'll be surprised at how encouraged you feel. Those 100 billion neurons in your brain have a way of working, working, you know, in like a concert, like a symphony, together, and you'll be surprised at what the outcome is and the beautiful, beautiful things the Lord can show you if you will just take the time. You know, the Sabbath was created for something like this. If you go to Israel, and by the way, this coming June of 2021, Father Mike Schmitz and I will be going to Israel. If you want to go with us and do a little thinking over there, you'll give you the time. Just go to my website, jeffcavens.com, and you'll find all the information

about going to Israel. It's opening up in Israel. They're ahead of the world, I think, and we're excited about it. But when you go to Israel, you'll notice that on the Sabbath, which is Saturday in Israel, everything, everything shuts down. I mean, everything shuts down. And within the homes, There is a tabernacle in time, a temple in time, where families are eating together, talking together, joking together, reading, doing all kinds of things as a family, maybe playing a game. They're turning off all electronics, television, smartphones, and everything else, and they're just resting and doing some deep thinking, reading religious books. oftentimes. Doesn't that sound inviting? I mean, you've got to be honest, doesn't it? It sounds inviting to just shut everything down. Netflix, social media, the news, if it's even fair to call it news anymore,

shutting it all down and just thinking. You might be uncomfortable, actually, at first. It's like going to a holy hour. I've heard more than one man say to me when I said, you should go take a holy hour, which I think is probably the best place to do some serious thinking, the best place to bring your questions, the best place to encounter the one who has the answers, Jesus Christ, that's a holy hour. Now, what's a holy hour? Catholic churches have chapels. In the chapel is the blessed sacrament. What's that? That is the real presence of Jesus, and you get a chance to sit before him and do some deep thinking. Doesn't that sound inviting? Take a day, take some time, shut down everything, and do it. You might want to put this on your calendar, by the way. Just go through your calendar

and say, when would be the best time for me to do this and write it down? You're going to take a half an hour, and you are going to make sure you're in a place where you can just think. I need some time to think. Yes, we all do. We all do. And I hope that you will do it this week. I'd like to hear how that goes. I'll put all my contact information in the show notes for you.

Send me an email, the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And I would love to hear how that goes for you. But one thing, one thing I'm going to ask you. you not to do and that is just say this was a good show and look forward to the next seriously stop and and take some time and think spend some time with the lord my friend please know that i'm praying for you and i do love you and i do i do so enjoy spending this time with you now after this I'm going to go back to the city and back to my family and enjoy, enjoy my home, and enjoy my family. It might even take a few minutes tonight to just think.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friend to you right now. I know, Lord, that they need that rest. I know they need encouragement. They need some silence. I pray, Lord, that you'll give them. time, some creative time to be alone with you and to think, to not be active in having to just come up with things to say, but to be silent and to think and to allow you to come into our thinking and direct us. Lord, I know that our ways are not your ways and our thoughts are not your

thoughts. Lord, we want to know your thoughts. We want to know your ways. We want to know your ways. help us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, what did you think about that?