Our grandson thoughtfully informed his mother that she did not know what he was thinking. The scary thing about that is that he was right. Parents don’t know what their children are thinking. So, we ask questions. “What were you thinking?” usually follows a child’s misdeeds. “What are you thinking?” is our attempt to open lines of communication at a deeper level. But, the fact remains; we cannot know what another person is thinking. No one “knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? (1 Cor. 2:11). No one, that is, except God who knows both the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Ps. 139:4, 23-24; Heb. 4:12-13). God knows us at the deepest level – even better than we know ourselves.
We are obliged to take care of the heart, “for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov. 4:23). God will hold us accountable for the thoughts we permit lodging in our hearts (Rm. 2:16). All sin begins in the heart (Mt. 12:35). Many sins condemned in Scripture are merely sins of the heart (cf. Gal. 5:19-21). But, like every other sin, these can keep us from inheriting the kingdom of God. As Christians, we are in a battle for the hearts and minds of those around us. Paul says, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
The first mind we must win is our own. Every thought must be taken captive to the obedience of Christ. How is that even possible? Certainly, not by our own strength. But, God “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us…” (Eph. 3:20). Input determines output. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Others may not be able to read our thoughts, but they should be able to see by our actions that our minds are “set on things above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). What predominant thoughts occupy your mind? Choose good ones.
— Glen Elliott —