Did it ever occur to you that God wants you to focus your mind in a certain way?
Did it ever occur to you that your thoughts can have a massive impact on your actions?
Did it ever occur to you that you can change how you feel by changing how you think?
Did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurred to God?
He knows all things, and He knows them all at all times? He doesn’t forget, and therefore He doesn’t “just happen” to remember something. So, NOTHING ever occurs to God. When He gives us direction or instruction in HIs word, He does so with the full benefit of full knowledge and total recall. This is part of what makes His word so valuable to us.
Today’s verse tells us:
FINALLY, BROTHERS, WHATEVER IS TRUE, WHATEVER IS HONORABLE, WHATEVER IS JUST, WHATEVER IS PURE, WHATEVER IS LOVELY, WHATEVER IS COMMENDABLE, IF THERE IS ANY EXCELLENCE, IF THERE IS ANYTHING WORTHY OF PRAISE, THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS.
If you’re driving in a moving car, it’s a pretty good idea to keep your hands on the steering wheel. Deciding that you’ll allow the bumps, holes and turns in the road to have whatever impact they would like on the direction of travel for your auto will end up in disaster.
So WHY would we allow the bumps, turns and holes in the road of life to have whatever impact they would like on US ??? We’re more valuable than any motor vehicle!
Solomon gives us instruction about where to focus our minds because He knows how destructive our thoughts can become. So God tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. He goes on in Proverbs 4 to give us instruction from the other side of the coin – avoiding crooked talk and devious speech. Warning us against swerving to the right or to the left. It almost sounds like driving directions, doesn’t it?
Peter adds another aspect when he warns us to be sober-minded and watchful about how we think. He reminds us that our adversary is looking for a way to get us off course.
The truth is that we ARE the way we THINK. Another proverb teaches us that “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
So take the wheel of your life and DECIDE where you will allow your mind to focus.
WHATEVER IS TRUE, WHATEVER IS HONORABLE, WHATEVER IS JUST, WHATEVER IS PURE, WHATEVER IS LOVELY, WHATEVER IS COMMENDABLE, IF THERE IS ANY EXCELLENCE, IF THERE IS ANYTHING WORTHY OF PRAISE, THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS.
When God instructs us to THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS, He is teaching us to allow what is good to impact us. There is always good to be found.
Think about it!
