~ by Terry Walters
Philippians 4:8-9
“A penny for your thoughts!” Sometimes we feel like
we can see someone's mind working and
we wonder what they're thinking.
The old saying just shows them we'd
like to know what they're thinking.
A word of caution - brace yourself
because they might be thinking about
things that you would rather not know!
Paul encourages us to think good thoughts -
to fill our mind continually with
thoughts about good things. He says to think
about things that are true -
better not read Facebook “reports”
or watch national news, then!
Things that are noble – well,
there goes most of what's on TV!
Pure – social media, TV, and the news need to be
severely filtered again! - and gossip, too!
In a world full of information, false information,
outright lies and gossipy rumors,
inflammatory rhetoric, violence and pure evil,
what could we possibly listen to, read, or
watch in order for our minds to dwell
on the kinds of things Paul said we should?!
How about the Bible and credible books
and videos to help us understand it?
Prayers. Sermon and study content.
These devotions! Christian music and talk shows.
Good, wholesome conversations with
fellow Christians about their lives.
That’s more thinking than you can even get done!
And they are praiseworthy thoughts, too.
More than ever, it is necessary for us
to proactively manage what we take into our minds.
Someone said that what’s down in
the well will come up in the bucket.
Be careful what you think about because your
actions come from your thoughts and true character.
Develop good character by what you think about.
Prayer: Father, please help direct our thoughts
toward You and good things.
Help us realize just how important our thoughts are.
Our actions come from our thoughts,
so help us keep them clean and noble.
P.S. I know what you’re thinking! We say that
because we interpret a certain look
or know a person well enough that
we think we already how they will respond.
Perhaps it was our first thought, too, so
naturally, we think they would think the same thing.
But how many times have we been wrong?!
They tell us what they think,
and we didn’t know after all!
On the other hand, if we all had the
mind of Christ, we would think a lot alike!
I think that is what this scripture
is all about – developing the mind of
Christ by focusing on the right things.
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