Theme: CHRISTIANITY AND SECULAR EDUCATION
Text: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” – Romans 8:6.
Comment: Apart from distinguishing between things of the world and those that pertain to the spirit, a true Christian must also have preference at all times for spiritual things. This is the fact stressed by St. Paul in his epistle to the Roman Christians as it is in the text for today.
The learned apostle emphasized the superior merits of being earnestly engrossed in matters of God. A righteous disposition or state of mind impels one to make the necessary sacrifices that will lead to the cultivation of Christ-like virtues necessary for salvation. But preoccupation with worldliness or carnal things such as inordinate ambition for fame and worldly glories with no place for God in the heart, leads to emptiness, vexation of spirit, ruin and at the end, everlasting destruction. – Galatians 6:8.
The error of putting worldly wisdom, power and riches higher than the knowledge of God is well emphasized in the following admonition: “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” – Jeremiah 9:23,24.