The Thought Life

“The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.”  Psalm 94:11

What is it that everyone does constantly no matter their age, sex, economic/social status, education, upbringing, or environment?  I THINK you know the answer.  The best definition that I found for “think” in Webster’s Dictionary is: “to use the mind for arriving at conclusions, making decisions, drawing inferences; to reflect and reason”.  God’s word has a lot to say about thinking and our thought life.  Many of the scriptures which speak about our thought life do not reflect a positive aspect upon our ability to think the way that the Lord would have us to gear our minds in the direction of His purposes and plans for our lives.  As the above verse indicates, God knows our thoughts are mostly empty and self-centered.  We do have inspiring and beneficial thoughts throughout our day, but most of our thinking is about ourselves, our family, our job, our troubles, our hurts, etc.  Folks say that being able to think and reason are the abilities that separate humans from animals.  I think that animals are smarter than we give them credit for.  Xena, the black lab that we used to have, loved to chase a tennis ball.  When I mowed the yard, she would get the ball and put in in the next swathe that I would cut so that I would have to pick it up and throw it.  How did she know to do that if she didn’t think it?  Just saying.

I Corinthians 8:2 states: “…if any man thinks (italics added) that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”  In other words, one who thinks he has all the answers is really showing his ignorance.  I heard a preach say that when he was just starting out in his ministry, he thought he had all the answers, but after a few years’ experience, he determined that not only did he not have all the answers, he also didn’t even know what the questions were!  There is nothing like being honest!  The words in scripture concerning our thought lives began back in Genesis 6:5: “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”.  Since God is omniscient, He knew that man would become sinful, but it still hurt Him to watch man pervert and dismantle His creation, as it were, casting pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).

God told Job (21:27), “Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against Me.”  Nothing gets by God.  He is aware of everything that we say, do, or think.  We who are God-fearing understand that, but that doesn’t mean that we say, do, or think everything that is pleasing to God.  The writer of Hebrews (4:12) well understood God’s ability to take apart, analyze, condemn or praise the minds of men and women.  “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Speaking of “intents of the heart”, folks who lie or criticize and then try to explain their words away by saying they “misspoke” are only speaking what’s in their heart.  “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7a).  We shouldn’t be too sure of ourselves:  “Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”  (I Corinthians 10:12).

The thought life permeates every aspect of one’s physical life.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 “…that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart”.  One doesn’t have to act upon a lustful thought in order to be guilty.  King David, a man who did act upon his lustful thoughts, cautioned his son, Solomon, to “serve God with a perfect heart and a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts” of man (I Chronicles 28:9).  David knew what he was talking about, and it’s too bad that Solomon didn’t follow his father’s advice.  Paul understood the value of maturity in the thought life.  He wrote in I Corinthians 13:11 to put away childish speech and thoughts for adulthood was no place for childish thinking.

Sincere prayer is not about thinking good thoughts.  I told a co-worker one time that my mother was in the hospital, and she said she would send “good thoughts” her way.  The thought that went through my mind was “thank you for your concern, but my mom needs prayer, not “good thoughts”.  Concerning prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, “…when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking”.  Concerning eternal life, Jesus said in John 5:39 to “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me”.  We know that salvation goes much further than just thinking positive thoughts.  Many folks think they are in right standing before God because they judge that their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, but salvation is found in knowing the gospel of Jesus Christ and believing His word, which leads us to Luke 12:40:  “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when you think not”.

To have a thought life that fits in with our relationship to Christ, Paul had a good word in Romans 12:3: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith”.  We should rely on our faith to guide our thoughts, and we do that by “Commit(ting) our works unto the LORD, and our thoughts shall be established” (Proverbs 16:3), settled, secured, and grounded in love by the power of the Holy Spirit.