Let’s Think About It

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Proverbs 23:7a

In the passage surrounding the above verse, Solomon was cautioning us to be careful about those with whom we associate.  Don’t let rich people tempt us to think that they are smarter, better, or more important than all of us ordinary folks, that is, all of us who are not wealthy.  (God sees none of us as “ordinary”, but rather people whom He loves and desires to be part of His family.)  Generally speaking, if the wealthy decide to include us every day, down to earth folks in their “crew” of associates, it is likely because they want something from us.  People usually hang out with others who are on the same socio-economic level because we feel more comfortable that way and have more of the same likes, dislikes, needs, and preferences.  Of course, not all wealthy people are consumed with their own riches and importance.  Some are quite generous.  Solomon also warns us to not try to amass wealth because “riches can certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven” (Proverbs 23:5).  Have you ever seen an illustration of a dollar bill with wings?  This fact has made itself very relevant during this time of COVID-19.  Those of us with retirement accounts or investments have watched the numbers go down, down, down, with no way to stop it.

When Solomon warned folks to stay away from those who would use and take advantage of us, he described those wicked people as those who act out what is really in their hearts.  I heard one of the television preachers years ago say that where a person’s mind goes, he or she will follow.  That is not only true for wicked folks, but for all of us humans.  Sin always begins in the thought life.  Many times we see something that stirs up our thought life in the direction of things that we, as Christians, should not go.  Sometimes, we can’t help viewing something distasteful or morally unsound, but when we do, we need to quickly look away and not linger on it.  We also cannot help some thoughts that come into our mind, but, again, dismiss it, and think of something else that is uplifting and honorable.  Dwelling on an immoral thought only makes it grow in our minds, and for some, it leads to more than just a thought.

While looking up a word in my good old 1966 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, I came across the phrase “mental reservation”, which means “to have a thought but not express it.”  Boy, have I had a lot of those!  There are some people who always say what they are thinking, but then there are others who are “mentally reserved”, that is, they keep their thoughts to themselves which, most of the time, is probably a good idea.  Our minds work all the time, even while we are asleep.  We constantly talk to ourselves in our minds as we plan out our day, think about current situations going on in our lives, or just plain worrying about all the “what ifs” that we think might happen.  The preacher Adrian Rogers said that “worry is spiritual amnesia because we have forgotten God’s track record of helping us in our past”.  Many times while trying to get to sleep at night, our minds race with all kinds of thoughts.  It can get so frustrating because all we want to do is turn off the thoughts and go to sleep, but that can seem like an exercise in futility at times.

One of the best ways to clear our minds of impure thoughts, worries, or all those things that keep us awake at night is to turn them over to One who can handle them.  Psalm 121:3-4 tells us that God neither slumbers or sleep, so, if He is going to be up anyway, why not give our thoughts and worries to Him?  Don’t worry.  They will still be there in the morning taunting us to pick them back up again in order to lug them around all day, but why would we want to go that route?  That is something to think about.