Think On These Things

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

It seems so simple, doesn't it?  To think on "these" things:  Things that are true....noble....right...pure...lovely....admirable....excellent....praiseworthy.  It seems like we wouldn't have any trouble at all thinking of good things.  But we do.  We all do.

We wake up each morning and some of us hit the ground running.  Others of us, it takes a few hours (coffee, hot tea, Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, etc.) before we're ready to get going.  Hopefully we start our morning by talking to God or reading His Word, but maybe we don't.  Maybe we grab the TV remote to catch the morning news/gossip.  Maybe we grab our phone or laptop to check Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  Maybe we're up making the kids breakfast, helping check last minuet homework, or packing lunches before sending them out the door.  Very quickly our minds can be filled with "stuff".  Maybe it's good stuff, but maybe it isn't.

From what we see, to what we read, to what we hear, our minds and hearts are filled with lots and lots of "stuff".  It's up to us to guard our minds and our hearts so that our minds only think on things that are in that great list in the scripture above.  The only way to do that is to guard our eyes and ears first.  Maybe we will need to change the radio station, delete a song off of the iPod, stop watching certain TV shows or movies.  Perhaps we will even need to change who our friends are - or at least limit our time with them if they are influencing us in a bad way.

Our minds are filled and bombarded with information and this "stuff" we're talking about.  If we take bad stuff out....we must replace it with good "stuff".  We have to change our thinking.  The phrase "power of positive thinking" is great, but the "power of Jesus' thinking" is BEST!  When we grow to be more like Jesus, we'll change the way we look at life.  We'll change the way we think.  There will be no more stinkin' thinkin'!  We'll be thinking of "such things" as Philippians 4:8 mentions.

It's never too late to start thinking like Jesus.  Maybe your morning started off bad.  It doesn't mean the rest of the day has to be downhill.  Change your thoughts - change your world.  Be more like Jesus.  Think on "these things" all day long!