Minding Your Thoughts
A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life
January 11
I Chronicles 22:7 And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:
David was the King of Israel and Solomon was his son. It was in David’s mind to build a temple for God. Prior to this, Israel worshiped God in the Tabernacle, which was the temporary and movable place of worship constructed by Moses according to the pattern given to him by God. This story begins in chapter 17 of I Chronicles when David confided in Nathan, the prophet, that he wanted to build a house for God. Nathan at first told the King to …Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. (17:2) However, that night, the Word of God came to Nathan telling him to tell David that he could not build the Temple, but that God would raise up David’s son and his son would build the great House for God. This in itself is a lesson about how God can change a mind as He sometimes needs to do.
David had something in his mind to do for God, but it was not of God’s mind for him to do it.
There is a great lesson here concerning Minding Your Thoughts. Not everything we think is of God or from God. Each and every endeavor for our Lord must first and foremost be approved by Him. Proverbs 3:6 instructs us: In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Having a mind to accomplish something for our God is a wonderful and noble gesture. However, always give God the right of refusal for such action.
It may be that He has another plan for you or has someone else picked out to do that which you have in your mind to do. A sign of a very mature and wise believer is that they allow God the right to tell them no and accept it gracefully. In business, and especially in church work a person’s willingness to yield to authority is always found in the way they respond to being told no. Unfortunately, in today’s society when the word “no” is given as an answer the one who says no is in peril. On one hand, to tell someone that they cannot do what they want to do is seen as discrimination. On the other hand, to tell someone that they must do something which they do not want to do is seen as harassment. Either way, the leader is at risk. Yielding to proper leadership is a character trait of obedience that can be clearly manifested by the simple act of hearing the word “no.”
Even though David was not to build the temple, he did do that which he could do. He accepted God’s “no” with the right spirit. God’s mind was set on the matter. Accepting God’s answer, through the man of God, for a king who had the power of life or death in his hand was a great testimony of faith. So, he prepared the building materials and even instructed his son Solomon in the building of the Temple, but Solomon built it.
This first magnificent building is known as Solomon’s Temple. David understood why God would not let him build this house (see I Chronicles 28:3), and accepted God’s refusal as His obedient servant. That we would be so willing today to let God have His way even, and especially when, that way opposes our thinking. Minding Your Thoughts means sometimes accepting the fact that God has said no.
May the Lord Bless and be pleased with your thought life today.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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