Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Thoughts Have Meaning
I can remember being told some very mean things by some of my classmates when I was in school. Some of these words I have never forgotten. It seems that words can wound us deeply and make a lifelong impact, either for good or for bad. That may be why Jesus said that every single word we speak we will have to give an account for (Matt. 12:36-37). For those who have repented and trusted in Christ, our sins were judged at the cross, but our words can still do much good or much harm, so we must measure them out carefully. We have to keep in mind that Jesus spoke these words to the Pharisees and not to the disciples (Matt. 12:24-25), but the application for believers should be considered. Our words can come back to haunt us, even those conversations we have in our heads.
What We Think We Are
I heard one pastor many years ago say that we are not what we think we are–what we think, we are! That is so true. What do we think about? Remember that God can read our thought life, and if it doesn’t glorify God, then we need to possibly have our mind renewed by God’s Spirit (Rom. 12:2). When we read God’s Word, it is alive and active and exposes our innermost thoughts and desires, piercing down into the deepest parts of our souls (Heb. 4:12). The more we get our minds into the Word, the more the Word gets into our minds. Isn’t that a worthy goal? If our thought life is known by God, we should make sure that our thoughts glorify God.
Sins of the Mind
We don’t have to commit a physical act of sin to be sinning. What I mean is that Jesus said that we can commit adultery in our hearts or our minds and be just as guilty as someone who commits the actual physical act (Matt. 5:28). I don’t mean that thinking lustful thoughts is as bad as doing the physical act because the physical act of adultery is like joining ourselves with a male or female prostitute because the Scriptures say the two become one (1 Cor. 6:16). Surely no one wants to be considered a prostitute, do they? Even hating our brother or sister makes us a murderer at heart (1 John 3:15), and if our thoughts have hate toward someone else, we can’t claim to be a lover of God (1 John 4:20). So again I ask the question of you and myself: How is the conversation in your head going? Does it glorify God?
A Closing Prayer
Father God, You are holy, and You know my thought life and that it falls so far short of Your righteous standard (Rom. 3:23). Please forgive me when I think evil thoughts, and send me Your Spirit to show me when my mind needs renewal and that I need to repent of my thought life since I always need to strive to glorify You in thought and deed. In Jesus’ most holy name I pray.
Amen
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