What Is On Your Mind?


What is on your mind right now? What did you think about today?
I thought a lot about my wife. I also thought a lot about my two
sons, who are away at college, and how tough the adjustment from
home life to college life has been for them. Then there were
many minutes spent thinking about how tough work has been. My
guess is that most everyone spends a good portion of each day
thinking about similar things. Unfortunately, some of us also
spend time thinking about sin. 

Evil thoughts might enter into our minds and we do nothing to
get them out. Instead we dwell on those things that would lead
us away from God. For those of us that did not grow up in a
Christian home, those sinful thoughts seem to invade our minds
more frequently. However, our great God provides the way for us
to overcome evil thoughts. In the book of Philippians, the
apostle Paul writes "…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" (4:8). The Philippian brethren must have
had a problem controlling their thoughts or even knowing what to
have their minds dwell on. Paul tells everyone to think only on
those things that are good. 

Jesus tells a parable that quite possibly has application here.
In Matthew 12:43-45, the story is about a man being rid of a
demon that had been possessing him. In time, the demon finds no
where to dwell so it returns to the man from which it came.
Because the man was "empty, swept, and garnished" the demon was
joined by several others in occupying the man. The man
apparently got rid of the demon but failed to fill up the space
left void by the demon. So are our minds liable to retain more
and more sinful thoughts if we do not fill our minds with that
which is honest, just, pure and lovely. Do not let Satan
maintain a stronghold in your mind. Force him out by avid
resistance. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James
4:7).



In Christ, Steve Preston



 
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