Thinking it Through

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. – Philippians 4:8

We’re largely where we are today because of the decisions we’ve made. Not completely, I know, because plenty of things happen to us that are beyond our control. But so much of our current status – our finances, our physical health, the state of our relationships, our spiritual life – is (again, largely) what it is because of our decisions. I doubt we could overemphasize this. We decide to do or not do certain things; to speak up or shut up; to invest in something, or neglect it. Those three points alone have a lot to do with the way our lives look.

And right now we’re largely feeling what we feel emotionally because of what we’ve decided to think about. Granted, disturbing things happen without our say so, but more often than not it’s our thoughts, not uncontrollable circumstance, that decide our emotional health. Ditto for how diligently we’ve performed on the job today, and double-ditto for our purity. Holiness is, among other things, a discipline of the mind, and there’s an axiom any of us striving for sexual purity oughta get tattooed onto our foreheads. What we decide to think about will hugely determine whether we walk in the light or in the dark. It begins, more often than not, with our thoughts.

I know there are visuals involved, too. Like you, I heave to tear my eyes away, any number of times during the day, from something coming into my field of vision which I know will trip me up. But largely it’s all in our minds, don’t you think? Old memories, sexual fantasies, unclean imaginations — they’re stored in our brains and they pop up, just like those (very un-Christian expletive deleted) ads that pop up on your screen when you’re trying to read something important, the ones without obvious “exit” buttons to click on. You know what I mean. They seemingly come out of nowhere, interrupting and distracting you. And whenever a pop up shows itself, whether a real one on my computer or one popping out of my brain, I make a decision: I will or will not continue to think about this image, this thought, this pop-up.

And I have options. There’s not only one channel my mind can tune into; there’s an impressive array of choices. I can switch channels and think of my lovely wife, my sons, my work, the friends I cherish, and countless scripture verses I’ve stored up over the decades. Crazy, isn’t it, how the same mind capable of spitting out smut can also retain God’s words? After all, you wouldn’t expect to find holy things on a shelf next to porn, yet beauty and filth really can be neighbors in the human brain. But only one of them has to be paid attention to.

For some reason the Twenty Third Psalm has been especially helpful to me lately. Whether I’m being tempted or attacked or just stressing out, simply switching channels to the phrase “The Lord is my Shepherd” has really been doing it for me. Often I get no further than those first five words, words getting more profound for me with age. Almighty God condescends to shepherd me, stooping to pick me up when it gets too rough, prodding and swatting me with his rod or staff as needed, making me rest, leading me in righteousness, then blowing me away with a banquet laid out right there in the presence of my enemies. I grin, embarrassed, while I dine unharmed, surrounded by people or principalities who’d rather see me starve than feast, then I leave the table hounded by goodness and mercy. I am one fat spoiled sheep, and I can only hope He really likes my fleece and that it’s all worth it to Him.

There. Those are the lovely sort of thoughts Paul said to focus on. They help, and I’m emotionally and spiritually quickened by them, making it easier for that reason alone to keep it clean, from the mind to the heart to the body.

God grant we all be good stewards of our minds today. The benefits will be immediate; the rewards yet to come. And those are two very good reasons to think on these things.