Christ Leads The Way

“As for you, Solomon, my son, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” – 1 Chronicles 28:9

There was a movie produced a while back called What Women Want. It was based on the premise of the main actor being able to read people’s minds, have an upper hand on them, and benefit somehow from being able to do so. Can you imagine someone accessing your thoughts without you willingly giving them to them, or someone extracting something from you without your permission? That isn’t a very nice thing to do. It’s actually a very serious violation and an abuse of a person’s rights.

I don’t think anyone would want that to happen to them. I especially wouldn’t want that because thoughts have to be…well, thought through before they are actually spoken or acted upon. That’s the nature of being able to consciously and rationally think through situations and ideas. Without that process of filtering, everything could very well be a bunch of nonsensical gibberish that is not even meant to be understood. To be judged by thoughts that are not reasoned through consciously or that may mean something totally different than what the hearer misunderstands is unfair and it’s just not right.

I assume that you, the reader, wouldn’t want that happening to you. I don’t want that happening to me, either. So, if anyone ever wants to try, I’m telling you right now to leave me alone. Don’t try to access my thoughts without my permission, without my conscious consent, or at all, under any circumstances. My thoughts are my own, and if I want to share them, they will be put here on this forum. Otherwise, don’t ask me any questions or say anything to me. If I want someone to know anything that I have to say or that I think, then I will be the one to initiate it…Thankfully, that was only a movie – pure fiction. No one can really read minds, except for God.

“The Lord knows man’s thoughts; they are meaningless” (Psalm 94:11). Without God and the wisdom of His Word, man’s thoughts alone don’t amount to much of anything. That’s why the Bible instructs us to be “transformed by the renewing your mind” (Romans 12:2) and that “the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are God’s thoughts and ways higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9).

The verse from Isaiah makes me think about Psalm 103. I remember my former husband teaching from Psalm 103 about how far God removes sin from us. He gave a great illustration for it that has helped me to have a vivid picture of how infinite God’s love is for us and how so unlike Him people really are. He was good student of the Bible; I always thought of him as a theologian. Though we are no longer married, he’s a man that I still respect.

As I mentioned in my article Marriage and Divorce, marriage is an honorable institution that God intends to be lasting. And I believe that the bond of marriage is a strong one that can’t be broken – even if spouses separate. If anyone has anything negative to say about him, then it’s almost as if it’s a slight to me. So for anybody who tries to say anything disparaging about him, stop now. Even before it might begin, leave my previous husband alone and let him be. Don’t talk about him. I don’t even talk about him, and I was married to him. So then, everyone else needs to do the same: respect him for and as the man that he is – nothing less. If we were to talk today, there would be so many things I would tell him, as a friend, about life that I’ve learned that really matter. Our perspective and the way we think about things can make a significant impact in our lives.

The Lord gives us free will to choose and do as we please. If humans didn’t have the ability to think through their thoughts and choices and reason, then there would be no issue with doing right or wrong. There would be no purpose for having choices. While God allows us to make the decision whom we will serve, He wants us to choose His will and His way. That’s why  we as Christians take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). I’m glad that God searches the heart and understands the intent of every thought.

May we all always, without reservation, be able to say to the Lord, “Test me, Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind” (Psalm 26:2).