A few days ago I wrote about what we are to think about. Okay, to be fair, I asked about what we are to think about. The other day a few verses came to mind that seemed to be related to my question. The first comes from Proverbs. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov 23:7). It's a fairly straightforward and reasonably observable phenomenon. You've seen it, I'm sure. You've likely even done it. You know those folks who always see the negative side of things ... and are negative people. You can show them positives and all they will notice is how bad things are. The things they think about and the way they are correlate. There are some, albeit much fewer, who are the opposite. They are the eternal optimists who can only see the silver lining. But, again, what they think about and the way they are correlate. It seems, in fact, that there is some wisdom here from Solomon.
The other two verses are interrelated. The first is from Paul. "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Col 3:2). I have been told, "You're too heavenly minded to be any earthly good." Paul would say, "Well, no ... you are supposed to be heavenly minded." But we get a clearer glimpse of what exactly "things that are above" would reference in a passage from Isaiah. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You" (Isa 26:3). This is an interesting verse. It doesn't say that perfect peace comes from thinking about God on occasion. It suggests a place for your mind to stay rather than a place to visit. The result of keeping your mind steadfast on the Father is that He keeps us in peace. Truth be told, I left off the rest of the thought in Isaiah's version. He actually says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock" (Isa 26:3-4). It isn't what God does for us that gives us peace. It is who He is -- an "everlasting rock".
Where's your head at? Nearly everyone knows that Jesus walked on water -- even unbelievers. A lot of people don't know that He wasn't the only one. Peter did, too. Peter isn't so well known for it, though, because Peter failed at it. According to the passage, when Jesus came walking across the water in the storm, the disciples were afraid. So when He told them, "Don't worry; it's Me," Matthew tells us:
Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matt 14:28-31).Note: "Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water." Impressive, isn't it? So what went wrong? "When he saw the wind, he was afraid." When Peter had his eyes on Jesus, he had no fear. He was in perfect peace because he trusted Jesus. It was when he got his eyes off Jesus that the circumstances frightened him and he ran into trouble.
Where's your head at? Are you beset by troubles? Are there tough circumstances in your life? Maybe the economy has affected you. Maybe you're worried about political issues. Maybe you're having marital difficulties. Some of you are concerned for the Church. Many of you have family members in trouble. There are, indeed, storms raging around us. And, let's be honest, these storms are frightening -- genuinely scary. Where's your head at? Remember, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Circumstances can indeed be dire, but nothing falls outside of the capabilities and trustworthiness of God. So, "set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" because "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
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