CHARLO, New Brunswick, April 8, 2024

How are your thoughts?

Are you thinking things maybe you shouldn’t?

Are you as charitable about people in your thoughts as you are in your spoken words?

Or are you a holier-than-thou fraud (like the hypocrites Jesus regularly upbraided), walking the walk and talking the talk while your mind oozes venom….

Scripture tells us that Jesus knew the hearts of the people around him. That is, he knew what they were thinking; he knew their thoughts. The reason he knew their thoughts is that God was reading their minds and giving Jesus a summary of the contents.

God reads our minds, too. All the time. Not just some of the time – all of the time. At no point in time can we hide even the slightest inkling of a thought from God. Remember that he knows what we’re going to think even before we think it, so don’t waste your time trying to outpace God. You’ll lose that battle before you get your armour on.

I love that God can read my mind. I love that he knows every thought I think – he doesn’t direct my thoughts, he just monitors and records them. To me, this is a great comfort, because knowing he’s constantly listening to my thoughts makes me more aware of what I choose to think about, what I choose to dwell on, and what I choose to entertain.

Jesus taught us that for a man even to look at (that is, to think of) a woman in lust is already to have committed adultery with her (unless, of course the woman is the man’s wife). To clarify, Jesus obviously wasn’t referring to the drive-by thoughts that the devil sideswipes us with on occasion, to test us. We’re not responsible for the thoughts that come at us from our blind spot. We are, however, responsible for the thoughts that we choose to entertain, that we mull over and massage, that we hold up to the light (to better see through the skirt…). Those thoughts are what Jesus was referring to – the ones that you knead and worry, not the ones that plop into your mind and you dismiss.

I mention this today because I think even some born-again believers don’t take Jesus at his word regarding the danger we put our souls in by entertaining sinful and uncharitable thoughts. I think most of us are careful about our spoken words, careful about our written words, careful in what we do when we’re in public (and also, for the most part, in private), but we sometimes forget to be just as careful about what’s going on in our mind and what we’re entertaining as thoughts. We forget that what’s in our head is actually more important than our expressed words and deeds combined, because what’s in our head – what we entertain and roll with – is the truest reflection of the state of our soul.

Did you know that your thoughts can make or break your eternal reward?

As I said, I love that God can read my thoughts at all times, because knowing I’m being monitored keeps me honest not just in my spoken and written words, but also and more importantly in my head. I know, too, that if the devil does one of his drive-by’s, I can immediately ask God to remove the tempting thought, and he will. In the same way, I can ask God to help me remove thoughts that are starting to become a nuisance, either because they’re overly negative or veering in the direction of something I know I shouldn’t be thinking. All I have to do is ask.

It’s important to stress that God will not automatically remove thoughts on his own volition, like an anti-virus removes malware. It’s up to me to let him know that I want a specific train of thought gone, and then he’ll derail it immediately. He’ll never override my free will, but he might on occasion remind me that, for instance, something I’m thinking is uncharitable or a little bit too spicy and doesn’t (as my grandmother would say) “become me”. It’s God’s way of letting me know I can do better.

I hope these words bless you today. Most born-again believers are very careful about the thoughts they choose to entertain, but some of us (I’m staring right into a mirror here lol) – some of us need a little gentle reminder every now and then, to push us back into the very center of the strait-and-narrow before we wander off toward the edge. May these words be a little gentle push for those who need it.