Minding Your Thoughts
A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life
Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Dr. Cabel Roberts, trained by Dr. J. Frank Norris and the first pastor of our church, often said: “There is a Judge that hath no jury.” Of course he was speaking of God. God is a God of single mindedness. Job knew this to be true for he said of God: …he is in one mind, and who can turn him?...
Single mindedness is an attribute of God, and it is also an attribute of people who accomplish great things. A person who is single minded will never have to concern themselves with the negative aspects of James 1:8 which states: A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Consider for a moment an illustration contrasting the act of being single minded or double minded.
The neighborhood that I live in has many trees and many squirrels. Routinely while driving in or out of the neighborhood a squirrel that is trying to cross the road is encountered. There seems to be two basic maneuvers that squirrels utilize to cross our roads. One maneuver is to run as fast as the little beast can run without stopping or slowing down. Whoosh and they are across the road. The other maneuver is for the furry creature to run into the road, stop and then try to fake out the speeding vehicles by pretending to change directions to continue across the street, then they pretend to run back to the side they started on. Back and forth they go, whether they are employing a strategy to fake out the driver or are just undecided is unknown. But usually, at least once, they pause in the street, do a type of break dance, and a driver never really knows what direction they will ultimately run.
The “whoosh” maneuver seems to be ultimately safer for the squirrel’s health than the break dance maneuver. You see, one squirrel is single minded, the other is double minded. Single mindedness is safe. Double mindedness is unstable. Twice in the book of Romans Paul uses the phrase: “fully persuaded” (Romans 4:21 & 14:5). Being fully persuaded is single mindedness, it is a characteristic of God, and it is an attribute for which we, as His children, should strive.
If I happen to see you crossing the road, please, for Heaven’s sake, use the swoosh method not the breakdance method. Just obtain, maintain, and retain one mind about any task undertaken. Just make sure it is in line with the Lord God’s mind. One group (of many) that did not consider His mind were those folks who decided to build the tower of Babel. They had one mind, one speech, one plan, and one goal. That goal was to get to heaven by their own efforts through their own work. They were one. But God overthrew their plans in a decisive manner, once again proving that Brother Roberts was right “There is a Judge that hath no jury.”
May the Lord Bless and be pleased with your thought life today.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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