In England, there is a psychiatric center. They use a simple method to determine whether a patient has been cured by the treatments or not. They bring the patient to a pot of water under a running water faucet. Then, they ask the patient to scoop out the water in the pot, ladle by ladle. The patient is considered to be cured – in his or her right mind – if he or she turns off the running water faucet first before starting to scoop out water. Otherwise, the patient is considered to remain out of his / her mind if he or she proceeds to scoop out the water without turning off the water faucet.

The story gives us an illustration of how to detect behavior from an “out of one’s mind” person after his treatments. Analogously, it can be used to detect Christian’s true repentance too. This let me think of a Bible verse from the epistle of 2 Corinthians that Apostle Paul addressed to the church at Corinth.

If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. (2 Corinthians 5:13) 我們若果顛狂，是為神‧若果謹守，是為你們‧

The zealous behavior of Apostle Paul and his co-workers in preaching the Gospel signifies their fervent love to God. It was, however, mistakenly viewed as “out of their mind” by some people in the Corinth. Hence, Paul said “If for you (the Corinthians), we will keep our right mind” to avoid misunderstanding.  So, let me post a question here, if I may. From your recollection of your love /courting experience, were you always calm and normal? Have you ever done something that is out of ordinary might be qualified as “out of your mind”? Very likely, right? You yourself may not realize that until someone points it out. May be some day we can share a little bit more among ourselves. 🙂 Based on our own experience, we can infer that the more we love someone, the more we want to do something for (focus on) him / her. This is somewhat similar to apostle Paul’s passion for God.

From another case, in the Gospel of Mark, we see that Jesus was accused by his family that he is “out of his mind” (Mark 3:20-21) because he was too busy to eat but serving the crowd. While outside representation of Jesus’ behavior may confuse His family but it tells us how much He cares about His people and ultimately, mankind. With His passion, He gave His life to us. This is one of the reasons that Paul and his co-workers were so “out of their mind”.  It should be one of our reasons to live for Him too. The other reason we should have the same enthusiasm as Paul and his co-workers is we are the new creation, as Paul indicated, and we were forgiven and redeemed.

“…..if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人‧舊事已過，都變成新的了‧(2 Corinthians 5:17)”

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let’s live a zealous life that is worthy of our grace. Because in Christ, we received our salvation; we became a new creation (a Christian), we have a new status (heir of His kingdom), we have promised blessings (inheritances), we have a new living style (sanctification), and we have His abundant love. The degree of our “out of our mind” for Him would indicate how much we love Him. May we have the same zeal as apostle Paul and his co-workers!