In His Mind

Scripture References: Nehemiah 4:6; Colossians 3:9-10

“Bat,” or “Roman Nose,” as the whites called him, stood six feet three inches. He claimed to possess great medicine in a headdress he wore in all battles. It repeatedly protected him from arrows and bullets, even as he rode daringly close to the enemy. One inviolable stipulation attended this medicine: eating anything from a pot with an iron instrument would destroy the bonnet’s medicine and require long purification rites.

One day, in 1868, six hundred braves cornered fifty Army scouts under Colonel Sandy Forsyth on an island of the Arickaree River in eastern Colorado. The night before the battle, Bat dined in a Sioux lodge, whose owner did not know of the taboo. When she offered him fried bread from a skillet, he willingly ate until he spied the fork she had used. He retained his composure but was inwardly shattered—he knew his fate. The next day, he loitered as warriors mounted their ponies. Urged to lead the charge, he explained about the taboo and said, “I know I die today.” He finally put on his war bonnet and led a charge against the entrenched scouts. Shot from his horse, he was carried to his teepee where he died at sun set.

We cannot dispute the power of the mind over a person’s life, whether good or bad. That being true, Jesus committed himself to recapturing God’s original intent of the mind: to discover God in all his works. Christians have the privilege of continuing Christ’s ministry by having our minds renewed in his image.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
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