Intelligence rules the world. Ignorance carries the burden.

The pimp, the prostitute, the stripper, the vagrant, satan, Jesus Christ, Judas or Jezebel all have or had one thing in common.

They all, without exception, have or had a mind.

The big difference is how each one chose to employ it.

Think for just a moment how many references you have seen, heard or encountered regarding the mind.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Gird up the loins of your mind.

I’ve got my mind made up and I won't turn back.

I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus.

He will keep you in perfect peace if your mind is stayed upon Him.

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

A double minded mind is unstable in all his ways.

It is the central processing unit (CPU) of the body.

Love, faith, hope, the will, the emotion, desire, dreams and goals all are birthed in the mind.

It is who you are.

It is your identity, name, self-worth, character, reputation, attitude and disposition.

It is the fountain of reason, logic, common sense and the seed of all acts and habits.

Indeed, a scalawag, knave or wicked fellow is simply referred to as a bad-minded man.

It is what distinguishes you from the wild beasts of the field.

When brain activity ceases in the hospital, they refer to you as a vegetable.

Hence, the only difference between you and a turnip is the mind.

Furthermore, it is only the grace and mercy of God that prevents us from devolving into one.

Satan is very cunning so you have been warned, "Guard your heart(mind) with all diligence for out it flow the issues of life."

If you are careless, before you know it, the total meaning and purpose of your existence would be drained out of you.

God, in his infinite wisdom, made the brain, the vessel of the mind, the most protected organ in the body.

It is encased in the cranium, covered by skin and hair.

He denoted its supreme importance by placing it at the top of your body and not at the bottom of your feet.

It is not coincidental that all five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching are in close proximity to your head, the housing for your brain and mind.

Therefore, you must be careful how you use it, how you feed it, who controls it and that you do not lose it.

It is, without a doubt, your most prized possession.

You can withstand the loss of the five senses or the use of your limbs, but if your mind remains intact you can still be influential, useful and a contribution to society.

I hasten to remind you of Fanny Crosby, the noted hymn writer, (Blessed Assurance, Pass me not oh! gentle Savior) was blind from her youth.

Helen Keller, deaf and blind, became an important humanitarian.

Stephen Hawking, agree or disagree with his philosophy, cannot control his bodily functions. That exquisite mind of his has captured the attention of the world.

The wisest man who ever lived stated, "As a man thinketh so is he."

In response to a request from his maker as to what he most desired, he answered, "an understanding heart.” He was well aware that wisdom and understanding are the principal characteristics or life. Although the pursuit of them may cost you everything, the effort is still worth the price because, once attained, you have the tools to regain everything you have lost and more.

Therefore, it should not be a surprise everybody, including the enemy or our souls, wants to influence, dominate, manipulate or twist it.

Realizing what's at stake and the inherent dangers of a warped unbalanced mind, God who loves and cares for us, instructed us, "Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, soul and mind."

It is the intent of God that you utilize your mind and intellect to uplift the human race and leave the world a better place.

One does not have to look very far to notice the horrors and tragedies a sick mind can cause upon the earth.

Auschwitz, Treblinka, Darfur, Rwanda, Newtown, Columbine among others readily come to mind.

The mind can be a source of magnificent accomplishment and progress, but also a well of great grief and sorrow and the breeding ground for hate, separation and destruction.

Consider this doctoral dissertation from Jason Richwine about the immigration debate, "No one knows whether Hispanics will ever reach IQ parity with whites, but the prediction that new Hispanic immigrants will have low IQ children and grandchildren is difficult to argue against.”

Apparently intellect does not equate humility and wisdom.

Can he be certain during the passage of time or the ravages of disease he will not lose his tenuous grip on the IQ he so arrogantly cherishes?

As I read that quote, I remembered Ronald Reagan, that vibrant ex-president who at the end of his life could hardly recognize his own wife children and lifelong friends.

I recalled Rocky Pomerance the former police chief of Miami Beach, whose children said about him, "It just breaks our heart to observe such an erudite, sophisticated, gentle man disappear before our eyes.

At army base Lewis Mcchord, Washington, the mystery and tragedy of an unhinged mind is being unveiled as Army Sgt. Robert Bales stands accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians without provocation.

According to the Associated Press, Sir Bales told the judge that this act was without legal justification, while seated at a defense table, his hands folded in front of him. At one point, the judge, Jeffery Nance asked why he committed the killings.

Bales responded: "Sir, I've asked that question myself a million times since then. There's not a good reason in this world for why I did the horrible things I did."

Nothing is explainable or reasonable when the mind goes awry.

Within our household, there is a new found appreciation for a mind that is whole, well and balanced.

Darkness is beginning to engulf my 86-year-old mother-in-law as the light slowly dims in her brain. Time and age are slowly stealing her personality and memory.

She is slipping away, painfully exhibiting signs of that inexorable slide and descent into dementia.

The house shown below, which sits a half a block away from us, was the property of an old man whose mind deserted him.

He had a daughter who lived in Chicago whom we have never seen and apparently never visited him.  He morphed into an unapproachable, obstinate, disagreeable person who demanded to be left alone and refused all offers of assistance. With the roof about to cave in on him and the inside of the house an unbelievable mess, the county finally had to" Baker Act" him.

Committed to a mental institution to live out his remaining days, his home has been condemned as an unsafe structure and will be demolished.

There is something sad and almost obscene in all of that. There should be more to a man's legacy and final evidence of his passage through the earth than a pile of broken timbers and crushed pieces of stone.

If you are still in control of your faculties and maintain a grip on reality, I implore you to be sober and vigilant.

Every day of your life you should fall to your knees and give thanks as you echo the words of the preacher and the prophet:

"Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them." – Ecclesiastes 12:1

"He hath shown thee oh man what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God." – Micah 6:8

Engrave them as if with an iron pen on the hard drive of your brain so you will grow to realize that:

In the final analysis, whether intellectually astute or mentally deficient, we all must die and thereafter submit an accounting of everything we have done in this life before the Judge of all the universe.

Therefore, the best advice anyone can give or receive is found in the immortal words of the now defunct TV series: GET SMART!

V. Knowles is a husband and father with an interest in penning issues that serve to uplift mankind. He melds his love for Classic literature, The Bible and pop culture - as sordid as it may be - into highly relatable columns of truth, faith and justice. Hence the name: Just Thinking. If he's not buried in a book or penning his next column, you may find him pinned to his sectional watching a good old Country and Western flick.