The Bible or Word of
God divides “soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
This verse states clearly that the Word of God discerns the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and thoughts and intents of our hearts. In this blog, I will only be addressing the thoughts and intents of our hearts.
In comparison to Jeremiah 17:9 and multiple verses in Proverbs, the Bible states in a lot of places that we, in and of ourselves, can not direct our own ways or thoughts. Isaiah 55:8 states “…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” The divinely inspired verse in Hebrews reminds believers that there is a way to direct our hearts and thoughts, His Word. We are God’s creation and so it is only logical to conclude that we can not think or direct our own ways and scripture reminds us of this over and over.
It is human nature to
entertain a worldly, lustful, and insidious thought life. The good news is God made us a new creature (2
Cor. 5:17) at the moment of salvation.
Therefore, we have all the ability we need to have a wonderful thought life. In Philippians 4:8, Paul writes “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.” It is also logical to conclude that Paul
wrote this verse because it is very unlikely otherwise to have a pure, true,
etc. thought life. Other verses that address the thought life are found in
Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 10:5. Both
of these verses contain great, Biblical advice regarding our thought life. In Romans, we are commanded to renew our
minds. The act of renewing our mind is
exercised simply by reading God’s Word. In
Ephesians chapter 6, God tells us that the whole spiritual warfare is in our
minds and that we need “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth”
(Ephesians 6:14) and arm ourselves with “the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17)
On the opposite side of the spectrum and because
God knows the human nature and knows that if left to ourselves, believers will
entertain that worldly, lustful, and insidious thought life, one thing we NEED to do is found in 2 Cor.
10:5, “Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” This
verse highly recommends that believers control their thought life by casting
down every thought that is against the knowledge of Christ. Paul’s goal in life was that he would know
Christ. A great way to get to know God
and His Word is simply to think about the things that you read in His Word, or
the Spiritual conversation you had with a friend at church. The verses in scripture are ever insightful
and will never be exhausted in our life time.
It truly is a blessing to ponder the things of God!
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