Guard Your Thoughts

What do you think about during the day?

An email response to your resume that said, "Thanks but no thanks"?
The driver who cut you off?
Your financial puzzle?
The pain of a loved one?
Someone's smile?
We are all thinking about something all of the time.

Our minds bring back pleasant memories. Recall facts. Store useful (and sometimes useless) details. And do so many other positive and helpful things.

But our minds also create pain and suffering. They focus on wrong things such as fear, greed, selfish power, envy, false escapes. . . .

Did you know that God knows all of your thoughts—as well as everything else about you? God is intimately involved in your life:

You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?. . .

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
—from Psalm 139

Did you know that your mind is a spiritual battleground, and that what you put into it dramatically influences your life?

Music you listen to.
Movies you watch.
Books, magazines, and internet articles you read.
Mental images you play with.
What you keep thinking about yourself.
How would your list of thoughts stack up at the end of the day? Positive thoughts: 1,350; Negative thoughts: 2? Or the other way around?

What if someone gave you a dollar for every positive and uplifting thought you think and took away a dollar for every negative thought? Would you end the day with money left over?

How much influence do your thoughts have on whether or not you focus on the good? On how you think about the stress in your life?

How are you thinking about the people around you—a family member, a waitress in a restaurant, a person applying for the same job that you really want?

Paul, a follower of Jesus, knew about the battle taking place in our minds. He urged the early followers of Jesus to actively direct their thoughts toward the positive:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.
—from the letter to the Philippians

With God's help, you can take control of your thoughts!

Make the closing words of Psalm 139 your prayer today:

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

*Taken from Biblica-guarding your thoughts*