Bam! There it is!

July 23, 2007

By Greg Ebie

It happened again recently. As we were finishing our Bible study on the importance of God’s Word, we came to Hebrews 4:12, which talks about Scripture judging our thoughts. That’s when someone asked, “But what am I supposed to do when thoughts pop into my mind? I mean, bam, there it is, but I don’t want to think about that.”

That question is one of the most frequently asked questions I get from people. What are we supposed to do with the many thoughts that come our way, often unexpectedly like a flash of lightning?

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious — the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse” (Philippians 4:8, The Message).

Paul gives us some wise counsel on how to handle our thought life, to choose to think on the right things, to program our mind to think upon thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy.

Years ago in a kid’s crusade I played the role of a “Joe Friday” detective — Sam Saint, Super Sleuth, a character created by well-known children’s minister Dick Gruber. Sam Saint’s tag line was, “My partner, the Holy Spirit — you can’t see Him, but He’s always there.”

That image of the Holy Spirit has stuck with me. It reminds me of the police officer who has a suspect spread their arms and legs to pat them down to find any weapons or other contraband. The Holy Spirit helps us perform an internal “pat down” with our thoughts.

Before we dwell on a thought and let it take over our thinking we need to tell that thought to “get up against the wall and spread ’em.” Then we can pat it down. We can determine whether that thought is true, pure, lovely or praiseworthy. If we find our thought is carrying the wrong stuff then we arrest it and send it to prison. Only thoughts that make it through that process should be welcomed into our minds.

Martin Luther said, “You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.” The same is true for our thoughts. Satan will bring all kinds of evil things into our minds, but we don’t have to let the devil fill our imagination with the wrong stuff. With the Holy Spirit’s help we can stop a thought when we recognize it is not honoring to God and choose to think on something else.

D. Greg Ebie is senior pastor of Praise Assembly of God in Garrettsville, Ohio, and an author of Daily Bread devotionals.