ESTABLISH YOUR THOUGHTS

ESTABLISH YOUR THOUGHTS

            Trying to live godly lives is often a challenge. We live in a wicked world. Everywhere we go evil is present with us. Yet, it is without question that we are called upon to live right. It is a daily challenge even within our own thoughts. Just think of the difficulty we have with our thoughts. When people look at us they generally think we are pretty good people because they can’t see our thoughts. How embarrassed would we be if, even for one instant, people were allowed to see what we were thinking? And isn’t our thought life one of the biggest struggles we have in this life? Just consider how many people in the past thirty days you have beat up, boiled in oil, hanged by their heels in a tree over hot lava or just given a really scathing chewing out. Nobody saw a thing. Yet, the heart was made all the worse for its evil intent.

            Our thoughts…oh, if only we could gain control of our thoughts. The other day a friend shared a verse with me. Simplicity is often inspiring. Chris, my friend, said he had been meditating on it for some time. I imagine it is one of those concepts we could meditate on for a multitude of years and never gather all of its import. But it also offered for me a simple concept for the moment. The verse is found in Proverbs which tells you right away that it is a thought God wants us to consider and to really digest. It seems to me that God gathered many of the deepest thoughts into that one book for easy reference.

            So, we read in Proverbs 16:3 “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Simple, right? But look a little closer. Look at the intended end result. Here is the answer to established thoughts. The idea is gathering our thoughts into one area and controlling them, established thoughts. It is that our thoughts can be structured and shaped. They can be formed and given purpose and design. Our thoughts do not have to be, nor should they be, random and without purpose. How often have you found yourself repulsed by your own wayward thoughts, thoughts that had gotten so out of control that when you finally realized where they had gone you were actually shocked? How often have you found yourself wondering how it was even possible for a Christian to think the way you were thinking at that moment? I believe it happens to all of us at some time. But here we are given an answer.

            “Commit thy works unto the Lord” the writer says. Well, I thought all Christians did that. We go to church every Sunday, right? Even on Wednesday if we are super spiritual. But this is deeper. This goes to the heart. He says to commit. That alone moves beyond church attendance and financial support. The word for commit in this text has the idea of shifting the load you are carrying onto another, one better able to carry it. Many of the thoughts we have are produced from our inability to handle, change or otherwise alter situations in life. He says commit thy “works” or all of what we do, all of what concerns us in a day. Take all of those and lay them upon him. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (v.29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (v.30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

            If we take all that we are carrying, all of what concerns us, and lay those on the shoulders of one better able to bear them we will find rest, our burden will lighten. And ultimately our thoughts will be established. Ultimately, our daily burdents are the very things which construct our thoughts. The frustrations with life, the people who attack us unjustly and our own inability to meet the demands of one more hectic day formulate thoughts which are not pleasing to God and thoughts that ultimately drag us down and make us all but useless to God.

            Can God not carry those burdens? Do we somehow believe our worries and fears will ultimately bring about the desired results? I am certain if we lifted those burdens off our own shoulders and placed them upon His shoulders our thoughts would be established or secured and properly fashioned and given proper order.

            I believe placing our cares upon Him would finally bring peace to our mind and establish our thoughts.