Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Many things clamor for our attention and our thoughts. If it is not our own daily lives, it is world events (of which there are plenty, heartbreaking and catastrophic). We are being told untruths, half-truths, and truths which drag us away from our daily walks.
We have an onslaught to weed through and to pull our minds away from. Much of what we encounter is simply a distraction – something to pull our hearts and minds away from what we have in front of us.
For example – you have your to-do list, you have your day stretched out ahead of you and it really is in alignment with what God wants you to do as you have worked it out in your prayer closet at the start of the day. At some point, a text comes through or a phone call begins. Soon, your mind has lost track of time, you start the ruminating and before you know it – you have replayed, rehearsed, and recounted recent events. You are sufficiently not doing what you intended to do that day.
Maddening.
It is in this cycle God spoke to me. I play this merry-go-round too. And it does wreck havoc on my mind. It pulls me away from the will of God for me in the moment as I give too much thought and energy on something meant as a distraction from the enemy and not as something good from the Father.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:11 (NIV)
The enemy schemes to distract us. He strategizes the plan of attack – not a new one, mind you, as he doesn't need to. He reuses his schemes as they have been effective for thousands of years. Such as: shame, gossip, blame, misunderstandings, and the like. The problem is we get easily sucked into the trap. We do not like to be misunderstood – we like to be liked. Blame? It was definitely not my fault, and I plan on telling so and so, and so on. Gossip? Oh, it’s just a prayer request and I had better get that going to friends so they can pray too.
Pretty soon you come up for air and an hour or two has past by. That hour in which you had better things to do and better places to put your mind.
Whatever is true, noble, right, pure.
We are given an awesome of list of what we can think of and how to steer our minds in the direction of God. We can do a self-check on what we are thinking on. Is it true? Is it noble? Is it right? Is it pure? If any inkling of a negative is spotted, then, we are to dismiss it. And definitely not pass it along to someone else – why cause him/her the struggle you just went through? It’s like handing him a dead chicken because you didn’t want it and you feel so much better getting it off your hands. But the question remains – what is he going to do with it? A dead bird that’s foul, feathered, complete with feet, beak and more.
That’s just it – the dead chicken doesn’t add to someone’s life, it takes away.
Set your minds in things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2 (NIV)
We have a choice. One which walks in the life of obedience and the other which takes the path of least resistance and is of the flesh. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. Galatians 5:6b (NLT)
Am I expressing myself in love? Am I acting in faith, even when I do not understand? Am I choosing to trust God with my life, my circumstances and that of world events and walk in Him?
Am I commanding my thoughts and focusing them on things above, where God is? Where Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us?
If not, why not?
PRAYER
Father God, I do indeed desire to please You in all my day, in all my heart and in all my mind. But I get distracted and sideways too easily and too often. I confess this as sin and ask You to help me to set my thoughts on things above - things which are pure, noble, right, praiseworthy. These things are You. Help me to think of You as I go throughout my day and carry on an ongoing conversation with You. I need You Jesus. Every hour. AMEN