Thought 106
Thought Life—The Determiner of Who You Are
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” Proverbs 23:7 KJV
Our thought life is really important and, gentlemen, you especially have to fight to keep this area submissive to Christ, trust me I know. And shepherds, your mind is the first place that I think the Enemy is going to try to get you to stumble.
In our culture today lust is the center of many of the relationships, purchases, and, unfortunately, entertainment. But what is lust? It is something that you desire strongly yet is contrary to the Bible and God. In other words, it is the sinful desire to have something that God says is not for you. Let me give you an example, if a young man grows up accepting what the world tells him is right about relationships, then he will likely indulge in dating the “hot girl” that catches his eye. Similarly, watching a large number of movies that he should not watch will strengthen his susceptibility to the temptation to “sneak-a-peek” at some porn or to have sex numerous times out of wedlock because he feels like it, but is this mindset right?
We think about a lot of things before we do them. When you are all alone what do you think about or what do are you tempted to do? What are the things you have thought about that you would hate other people to know and, more importantly, would you confess them to Jesus’ holy face? Would you “feel good” having Jesus watching as you think the about the things that you do? Or would you feel ashamed knowing that Jesus is watching as you continually think about, constantly dwell on, meditate on some sin? The truth is that He is always watching so please don’t grieve Him.
“Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'” Matthew 22:37 NIV
“The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand;” Psalm 121:5 NIV
“Whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets; but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me. ‘They delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises. On the day of the festival of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, band he joins hands with the mockers. Their hearts are like an oven; they approach him with intrigue. Their passion smolders all night; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven; they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, and none of them calls on me.” Hosea 7:1-7 NIV
Take an honest, meditative look at your thought life, whether you are young or old, male or female, and then apply the following verse: “. . . take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV).
