Good thinking is intentional. Romans 12.2

Did you experience it … the big shift?

Did you take fifteen minutes to ‘work’ “Focused Silence”?  Practically speaking, what did you do in your solitude?  What happened?  Your mindset was shifted … it was elevated.  Your thinking went from the mundane to the magnificent, as it went from whatever you were thinking about your own life, be it your day or your plans, your fatigue or depressed state, or even your expectations of the coming day, to thinking about God.

[If you didn’t practice “Focused Silence”, give yourself and God a gift; go back to your in box, or your Facebook account, or my All About God blog, and click on “Solitude …Focused Silence” and experience it.]

Permit me to continue on with our theme of renewing our minds…

Not wishing to be overly encumbered by toting my laptop, along with my study material this past weekend, I just packed my trusty little moleskin lined journal—black, just about a quarter-inch thick, and a pencil.  I began to ruminate and meditate on the subject of changing our thinking, heeding Paul’s words to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds”.  I even queried the airline passenger next to me … I noticed she was reading “The Pessimism Index”, an article in Time Magazine, so it made the perfect segue. 

‘Excuse me, but I can’t help but notice what you are reading…’ and we were off . . . launched into a discussion about the power of our minds, which determines how we see life.  Then I sat back in almost silence, besides the hum of the airplane engine and a crying baby eight rows in the near distance … ‘hmmm … how to do it,’ I thought, ‘how to change the patterns of our thinking, oft as entrenched as the well-worn carpet path a young mother makes while walking her colicky baby in the wee hours.’  I queried my seatmate about the possibility of changing our thinking; a registered nurse, she leaned back, sighed thoughtfully, and then said, ‘Yes, I think it is possible to change your thinking, but you gotta want to.’  ‘Hmmm…you’re right, ‘I said, and took out my pencil…

Consider the following list:  attitude   joy   creativity   contentment worry    fear     potential   anticipation     Look back over the list, please … what do those things have in common?       Each is determined by your thinking.

Do you have a good attitude?  Do you experience joy?  Would you say that you are creative?  Are you able to be content in this world?  Do your worries threaten to consume you?  Are you maximizing your potential as a human being?  Do you wake up with a feeling of anticipation for the new day?  Does your fear (of the future, of failure, or whatever) rob you of sleep at night, or peace in the day? 

I could make the case that the answer to every one of these questions is determined by your thinking.  When Paul said, ‘do not be conformed,’ he meant ‘do not let the world’s thinking take over your mind’… including, ‘do not be limited in what God has for you by your poor thinking.’  When he said ‘but be transformed,’ he intended for our thinking, particularly as Christian believers, to be radically improved … by the ‘renewing of our minds.’ 

To be sure, our minds are renewed through God’s Word, time spent in community with other like-minded God seekers, and in focused solitude, all which facilitate the Holy Spirit’s work in us, but how do we change things like a critical attitude, a worry-wart personality, seeing the glass always half empty?  Awareness -> and then choice, personal intention.

Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.1   SET is a verb—it implies an action to be taken on our part.  It implies intention.  ‘What are the things above?’ you ask.  Those things which revolve around heaven and eternity.  Oft times, we do not think too much about heaven until we lose someone we love very much; then, we daydream about what they might be doing in heaven….’true?  Of course true!  Guess what?  Someone you love is already there…Jesus, sitting right next to his dad, your heavenly Father.  What do you think he does all day?  What do you think Heaven will be like?  Are you looking forward to it?  Think about it.  Set your mind on it, for Heaven is your real home; you are just ‘passing through’ on this earth.

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.2   think about such things---another action verb—think.  It is not surprising to me that Paul wrote these two verses about thinking, because I have long been aware of his keen mind and intellect, but these verses also reveal process—Paul makes it clear that renewed thinking comes through process—choosing to think God’s thoughts. Process takes time and patience, but the shift in thinking will happen.  Good thinking is intentional.

Christine

podcast:

1       Colossians 3.2      2    Philippians 4.8