It happened again this week. As we were finishing our bible study on the importance of God’s word, we came to Hebrews 4:12 which talks about scripture judging our thoughts. That’s when someone asked, “But what am I supposed to do when thoughts pop into my mind? I mean bam, there it is, but I don’t want to think about that.”
That question is one of the most frequently asked questions I get from people. What are we supposed to do with the many thoughts that come our way often unexpectedly like a flash of lightning?
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
Philippians 4:8 (MsgB)
Paul gives us some wise counsel on how to handle our thought life. Make the choice to think on the right things, to program our mind to think upon thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy.
Years ago in a kid’s crusade I played the role of a ‘Joe Friday’ detective, Sam Saint, super sleuth; my partner, the Holy Spirit—you can’t see Him but He is always there. Like a police officer would have a suspect spread their arms and legs to pat them down to find any weapons or other contraband, we need to learn to ‘shake down’ our thoughts.
Before we dwell on a thought and let it take over our thinking we need to tell that thought to “Get up against the wall and spread ‘em.” Then we can pat it down. “‘Thought’ are you true? Are you pure and lovely? ‘Thought’ are you praiseworthy?” If we find out that our thought is carrying the wrong stuff then we arrest it and send it to prison. Only thoughts that make it through the shake down are welcomed into our minds for us to think about.
Martin Luther said, “You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.” The same is true for our thoughts. Satan will bring all kinds of evil things into our mind, but we don’t have to let the devil fill our imagination with all the wrong stuff. We can stop a thought when we recognize it is not honoring to God and choose to think on something else.
1 comment:
Another thing to do with thoughts that come into our mind is to use the thought as a springboard to holiness. Use it to do sorta like Joseph said in Genesis when he said, "you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
When the unclean thought comes: something like I could do this and no one will ever no... let that be a springboard to: "FATHER, THANK YOU THAT I DON'T HAVE TO LIVE THAT WAY. I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME THE STRENGTH. THANK YOU FATHER FOR THE STRENGTH RIGHT NOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, TO PUT DOWN THIS EVIL IMAGINATION AND TO THINK ON THOSE THINGS THAT ARE HOLY, PURE, RIGHT, ETC.
DAD
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