We Are What We Think

Chuckle: The pastor search committee was interviewing candidates for the church. "What kind of man do you want?" asked one minister. The chairman said, "We want a preacher who has never been to the Holy Land, who cannot sing solos, and who has never studied Greek!"

Quote: “I think, therefore I am.” –Descartes (French Philosopher; 1596 – 1650)

“For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all creation can hide from him” (Hebrews 4:12-13 NLT).

The very thoughts that we entertain are important to God. A biblical concept that was particularly difficult for me grasp is that, in God’s sight, sinful thoughts can be just as condemning as sinful actions. You may remember Jesus’ words during His sermon on the mount concerning adultery. “But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart (mind)” (Matthew 5:28 NLT). “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34b NIV). “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 KJV).

As damaging as an impure heart and ungodly thoughts can be to our relationship with God and our ultimate happiness, pure, positive, and holy thoughts provide a basis for godly actions that are pleasing to God. Godly thoughts also provide us a healthy, happy, and beautiful outlook on life. Jesus said, “Blessed (Happy) are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8 NIV).

In our quote of the day, Descartes emphasized the truth that we are what we think. Here are some amazing words from the deaf and blind Helen Keller: “Mine has been the limited experience of one who lives in a world without color and without sound. But ever since my student days I have had a joyous certainty that my physical handicaps were not an essential part of my being, since they were not in any way a part of my mind. This faith was confirmed when I came to Descartes’ maxim. ‘I think, therefore I am.’

Those five emphatic words waked something in me that has never slept. I knew then that my mind could be a positive instrument of happiness, bridging over the dark, silent void with concepts of a vibrant, light-flooded happiness. I learned that it is possible for us to create light and sound and order within us, no matter what calamity may befall us in the outer world.”

“As selfishness and complaint pervert and cloud the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision.” –Helen Keller. The condition of our hearts and our innermost thoughts will determine who we really are before God. “I think, therefore I am.”

Love, Jerry & Dotse