January 9, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

I Samuel 2:35

And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

Eli was the priest in Shiloh (it was he that an unnamed man of God was speaking to in today’s verse). He, Eli, had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who accompanied him in the priestly duties. Because of their disobedience God decided that they needed to be replaced by one who would be faithful to the calling of the priesthood. So, in His divine plan God raised up a young man named Samuel in a miraculous fashion. Notice that which God said that Samuel would do…shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind… These words remind us of a few great lessons.

One: God has a heart and a mind. True these are not physical characteristics of God, for He is a Spirit, but as we are made in the likeness and image of God, we too have a heart and a mind. In Ezekiel 22:30 the Almighty said that He sought for a man who would basically perform that which was in His heart and mind. Namely, make up the hedge and stand in the gap. But He found none. There was not a man who would perform God’s heart and mind in the nation. How sad. Today God is still looking for a man, a woman, anyone of any age or everyone to perform all that is in His heart and mind. Anyone can be that one, all they have to do is yield to Him by fulfilling His heart and mind, not theirs.

Two: The heart and the mind are two separate concerns in life. The heart can affect the mind, and the mind can affect the heart, but they are separate. This is why many have the “head” knowledge without having a heart’s desire to do what their mind tells them. Some, likewise, have the heart desire but not the mind. Think about it like this, a mind is like the executive; planning, strategizing, dreaming, managing, and administering. The heart is like the tradesman, carrying out that which the mind directs. For both to be yielded to the Lord results in the mind and heart of God being performed on earth.

Three: God always puts a premium on people doing that which is in His heart and in His mind. Simply put this is called faith. Living by faith can only be accomplished by knowing His Word, which is His mind, and obeying His Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit. These two (His Word and His Spirit) work together today to teach us about God’s mind and God’s heart. The key though is yielding. C. Simmons, an American clergyman in the early 1800’s wrote, “When the heart is won, the understanding is easily convinced.” By yielding the heart to God, the mind naturally follows. Also, by yielding the mind to God, the heart is won. General James Maddis is known for saying, "No war is over until the enemy says it is over. We may think it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote." In a crude way of looking at it, every person, before coming to Christ in faith, is fighting God as an enemy. In the end, He ends! He wins when we agree that He wins. That is free will in action. By coming to Him in faith, one basically agrees to end all rebellion, fighting, and rejection of Him, His mind, and His heart thereby commencing to perform all that God reveals of His heart and mind to them.

One hundred years from today and beyond, each individual will be glad to have performed that which was in God’s heart and mind in and through their life on earth, or regret the opposite. Yes, indeed, today so many thousands of years later God is still searching for someone that would have the boldness, humility, and perseverance to perform all that is in His heart and His mind. Someone, anyone, who will make up the hedge and stand in the gap.

May the Lord Bless and be pleased with your thought life today.

William T. Howe, Ph.D.