With age, there is the possibility of perspective, and with perspective comes the awareness that there are things in life that start to become ‘more important’ than we might have originally thought.
Which is a wonderful segway into today’s vlog and blog.
Thoughts
Proverbs 23:7
“ For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”
Though there are many who argue the actual meaning of this verse I think, as I always have, that these words themselves are powerful and can mean ‘many’ things. Yes, you can take things wildly out of context, as we have seen many do, coming up with their ‘own’ ideas and justifying their ‘agenda’ but let’s just bake this souffle down and say that ‘thoughts’ are very important.
I love the real-world application and real-world experience to back up the Word. Here we see at a 100,000-foot level, that our thoughts are powerful, and they have great influence in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
I would ask you to be honest with yourself…
Let’s use this as an example. How many of you decide to lose weight and start putting, one of my favorite words, ‘intentionality’ around your food, only to find out that you are now always thinking of food. I remember, as a young Bible college student, trying desperately to take Jesus’ words at face value all of the time.
In Matthew 5:28 he says:
“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
I didn’t want to be an adulterer but you know what I found? The more I prayed, the more I focused on what I ‘shouldn’t be thinking or doing’, the more power I gave to it.
Why… because thoughts are powerful, and the more attention you give something, the more power it can have to influence you.
I know so many people who hit a food craze, and then all they talk about is the food they should and shouldn’t eat. I have done this myself many, many times and at the end of that journey, I find that more of my life has been given over to ‘food’ talk, ‘food’ thoughts, ‘food’ discussions and guess what… food is still an obsession but from a slightly different angle.
Food, like everything else, needs its place in life, however, it’s up to us to determine where we put our focus, and thus what we allow to influence our lives.
“All achievement, all earned riches have their beginnings in an idea.”
Napoleon Hill
Thoughts, backed with the power of imagination, fueled by the mechanism God gave us from the beginning of time, are way more powerful than we’ve ever considered. When we understand this, we become aware of how careless we can be with our thoughts. Instead of respecting their power, we wield them like a kid running amok in a candy store. We grab at everything, and in today’s world, with instant, constant connectivity, we let anyone and anything in between our ears and then ruminate on it. We ‘entertain’ ourselves with thoughts that don’t bring out the best, but oftentimes celebrate the worst of what it means to be human.
If there is one truth I want you to take from today it is this, “You are more important, and your thoughts more powerful for your life and those around you, than you might know.”
It’s always going to be hard to keep stray thoughts from becoming the focal point of our lives at times. There is no way to change something without that change becoming front and center for a while, but in the end, changing, growing and moving through the ‘shiny new’ of a different direction needs to bleed off into a ‘lifestyle’. It’s not just a new set of clothes to wear and show off. It needs to become something from our insides.
From a practical standpoint, instead of focusing on what ‘shouldn’t be’ let’s leave this cake baked down to the following inspiration and support from Philippians, 4:8
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Peace on your Journey this week.
