Minding Your Thoughts
A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life
Deuteronomy 30:1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
At the end of the discourse concerning blessing or cursing from God based upon obedience or disobedience, God tells the people of Israel to call them to mind. Notice that He states that when these things are come upon you then call them to mind. While there is no way to improve on God’s Word, and there are no mistakes therein, consider this a good piece of advice, it’s always better if you call them to mind (the warnings and the blessings) before these things come upon you. By doing so, protection and encouragement will follow: protection from the heartaches and encouragement because of the blessings. How can we be sure to call things to our mind?
One way is to continually read God’s Word. In Matthew 22:31 Jesus asks this question, …have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God… The Lord God of Heaven, which gave His Word, expects His Word to be read by His children. By reading His word over and over the reader constantly recalls to their mind His wonderful, precious, and vitally important teachings. One day He may very well ask each of us “Have ye not read?”
Another way is to listen to the preaching of God’s Word. In a world that seems determined on ignoring, rejecting, belittling, and the wholesale staying away from preaching, verses like I Thessalonians 5:20 should be constantly recalled to mind. That verse states clearly: Despise not prophesyings. Prophesying is nothing more than speaking forth God’s Word. It is the continual manner which God designed to help His children to call to mind those things He has given them in His Word.
Another is to learn songs, hymns, and spiritual songs, that help us to remember His victories and sacred work on our behalf. Songs like “How great thou Art,” “I am Resolved,” and “Amazing Grace” speak to the soul and remind the brain of those things He has done for us and will do for us.
Still another way is to memorize Scripture and meditate on it daily. Psalm 119:11 clearly states why His Word should be memorized, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. It is difficult, if not impossible, to bring things to mind that have not been put into the mind.
There are many ways to bring to mind the things that God has given us (both good and bad) in His Word. In closing, notice why God told His people to call them to mind. It was for the benefit of the nations, the people, to whom the Israelites would come into contact. By verbalizing that God rewards or chastises His people, it warns or instructs others who do not know God of His involvement in this natural realm. So, even if God chastises for wrongdoings, He can be glorified by us understanding it and letting others know that the hand of God reaches into the affairs of this life.
Remember Jonah? He disobeyed God by running from his divine call to preach destruction unto Nineveh. From that disobedience came the entire whale of a story. In the midst of the storm Jonah told the others on the ship that he fled from the presence of the Lord and that the storm was because of his disobedience. The disobedient man of God put it in the mind of others that God was directly involved in the events of the day. There is no telling how this impacted them throughout the balance of their life, but one thing is certain, Jonah called to mind the results of his disobedience and shared it with others.
The lesson is clear. Concerning God’s involvement in the affairs of humans, let those who know Him tell others of Him, both His blessings and His dealings with our disobedience. To do this, they both must frequently be called to mind.
May the Lord Bless and be pleased with your thought life today.
Dr. William T. Howe
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