Food For Thought
March 22, 2020
We are in a battle for our minds. Psychologists say that ten thousand thoughts go through our minds in one day. That’s 3,650,000 thoughts a year. Every day through television, the internet, conversations, magazines and books our mind is being infiltrated with thoughts. In the past two weeks we’ve been bombarded with thoughts centering around COVID19. If you’re anything like me, you’ve read reports about the spread of this virus, you’ve heard countless news updates, and you’ve had conversations with friends and family about this. And one thing is true, this pandemic is all most people are thinking about.
Now some who are thinking about this are thinking this virus is all a bunch of overblown hype. But try telling that to the family in New Jersey who lost 4 family members to this virus this week. Or try telling that to restaurant or small business owner who had to shut their doors this week. Or trying telling that to a family with five kids who can’t find enough at the store to keep food on the table. It’s not overblown hype.
Now on the other side of the spectrum are those who are out of their minds with fear over this virus. They’re the ones who’ve cleaned out the grocery isles of toilet paper, bread, pasta and whatever else they could get their hands on.
But most of us are somewhere in between. We’re trying to take this in stride. We’re taking proper precautions, practicing social distancing, washing our hands, staying out of public places and just trying to make the best of things. And if we start to get anxious, we try to remember what we learned last week: that whenever you start to worry it’s your signal to start praying. After all, when we go to God in worship in our prayers and bring Him our requests with thanksgiving, He promises to give us peace. He promises to guard our hearts and minds with the peace that surpasses understanding. So my guess is that most of you have upped your prayer game somewhat of late. And you find yourself praying not just for yoursef, but for our country, our leaders and the world. And God has given you peace, and you have a quiet confidence that God’s in control.
But let me ask you: what are you thinking about these days? What occupies your mind? Of those ten thousand thoughts that go through your head every day, how are your thoughts affecting how you live? After all, the Bible says, “For as a man thinks within himself, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7 You see as we are being bombarded with all kinds of thoughts right now, I thought it might be a good idea for us to look at what God’s Word says about protecting our minds, about occupying our minds. And since we have a lot more time at hand in which to occupy our minds right now, I thought this might be a good thing for us to look into. Here’s what God has to say about the kind of thoughts He’d like to plant in our heads: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
At the end of verse 8, at the end of God’s list is the command: “think about such things” This is a command to discipline our thinking. We are to ponder, to consider, to give proper weight to the things on this list. To evaluate what is good to dwell on and what is not. In other words, this is a command to actively think, to actively consider something so as to apply it to our lives. Like what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! Luke 12:24 and, Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:27 God wants us to occupy our minds with good stuff so that it affects how we live. Basically, we are to be on a spiritual diet: we are to have food for thought.
And God’s food for thought begins with chewing on: whatever is true. So don’t fill your head with too much COVID19 information. Listen and learn enough to be informed so you can make wise decisions, but feed your mind with truth. Real truth! Where we can start is by feeding ourselves a steady diet of God’s Word. Jesus said of God’s Word: “Your Word is truth.” John 17:17 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” John 14:6. Jesus is the truth. He also said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my followers. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
So truth is good and we have an abundance of truth in God’s Word. So here’s the deal, all of you have a little more time on your hands for the next few weeks. Some of you already have projects you’re undertaking. Some have movies or books you’ve been wanting to read. But why don’t you carve out some of this time to feed on the truth of God’s Word. Maybe you’ve never read through the Bible. Did you know it takes only 18hours and 20 minutes to read through the entire New Testament. Maybe you could read the New Testament and hour a day over the next few weeks. Or you could do what I did when I was in College. We were assigned to read through the book of Romans once a week in six different versions. Or you could take a book like First John and read it once a day, every day for two weeks and see how God’s Spirit will open up His truth to you. If you were to immerse yourself in God’s Word this way, I guarantee you God will give insight into His truth in ways you’ve never experienced. Here’s another idea: Read through a book like Philippians every day for a week. As you do, every time God’s Spirit nudges you to dwell on a truth; write it down. Meditate on it and maybe even memorize it. Ask yourself how God would have you put the truth into practice in your life.
Here’s another idea: Read a good book on Theology or the Christian Life. Here is my list of the top 5 books I’ve read on Theology:
Knowing God, by J.I. Packer
Desiring God, by John Piper
The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer
The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard
Your God is Too Safe, by Mark Buchanan
Each of these books will feed your mind with deeps truth about God that will feed your soul and encourage your faith. Here’s a few good ones on the Christian Life:
The Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller
Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby
What’s So Amazing About Grace, by Philip Yancey
Abba’s Child, by Brennan Manning
Life of the Beloved, by Henri Nouwen
You read any one of these books and God will use them to transform your mind with truth. You will give the Spirit opportunity to transform how you think and bolster your confidence to live for Him. Reading great books by godly authors are like dining out at the finest restaurants. They fill you with truth you can both enjoy and digest.
We need to consider whatever is true. So beginning next week, during our self-quarantine, I’m going to do some “nuggets of truth moments,” and send them out for you to chew on. But don’t just rely on Sunday mornings, or little nuggets of truth I might send you. Learn to feed yourself, become a person of the truth. After all it is Jesus who said, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” John 4:23 Let’s occupy our minds with whatever is true.
Ok then, let’s look at the next item on the menu of food for thought:
2.whatever is noble: These are things that are morally good, worthy of respect, honorable, dignified. Whatever is admirable or worthy of reverence. What comes to mind when you think of someone that is worthy of respect or admirable? The first person who came to mind for me is Russell Wilson the quarterback of the Seahawks. This week he and his wife donated 1 million meals to the Seattle Foodbank. But what most people don’t know is that since his rookie season he has gone to visited child cancer patients at Seattle Children’s hospital. That’s admirable. That’s behavior worthy of respect – whatever is noble. Next,
3. whatever is righteous: These are thoughts and plans that meet God’s standard of righteousness. Righteousness is all about our ability to live in right relationship with God and our fellow man. That’s why God sent His Son Jesus, to restore what was broken – our relationship with Him. Jesus made us right with God at the cross. Jesus reconciled us to God by His death on the cross. And Jesus makes us right with one another through the cross. Not only that, but personal righteousness is a key theme of Jesus’ in the Sermon on the Mount, and the beatitudes. It was Jesus who said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6. If you want to know how to treat people “right,” If you hunger and thirst after righteousness, just look at how Jesus treated people. Whatever is righteous. Next on the menu is this:
4. whatever is pure: To be pure means to be free from contamination or blemish. It means to have thoughts that are unpolluted by the world. To have wholesome, clean thoughts. We live in a day where there is so much impurity that bombards our thinking. So much so, that we need to actively protect ourselves from impurity. To put safe-guards on our computers, to monitor what kinds of movies and television we watch. Think about this: Of the ten thousand thoughts that go through your mind each day, how many of them are impure. David wrote: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word.” Psalm 119:9 God’s Word says so much about purity. Listen to this exhortation from 1 John: Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3
5. whatever is lovely: This is one of my favorites. Another way of saying this is to focus on what is “beautiful.” Listen to what God says is beautiful: After a woman poured an expensive bottle of perfume over Jesus, this is what he said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” Matthew 26:10. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” Romans 10:15. And this one from Peter, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 Nothing wrong with looking good on the outside, but when you let God transform you on the inside, there’s a beauty there that attracts people to Jesus. Feed on that! Whatever is lovely.
6. whatever is commendable: This can also be translated “admirable.” How is this different from “whatever is noble? Gordon Fee helps us here. He says, “This represents the kind of conduct that is worth considering because it is well spoken of by people in general.” We are to look at people who are living a life above the ordinary and learn from them. That’s why I like to read biographies of godly men like D. Martyn Lloyd Jones; Presidents like Abraham Lincoln; saints like Mother Teresa; and great missionaries like Hudson Taylor. These men and women had flaws like any other person, but there is much to be admired from their lives. Feed on them! And finally,
7. whatever is excellent and praiseworthy: These final two summarize all other thoughts that would be worthy of God’s children. The first is the word “virtue” and basically means any kind of moral excellence. And the second is “praiseworthy.” which focuses on “anything that might call down the approval of God.” So this is a call to raise the bar on what we deem worthy of going into our minds. We need to feed our minds with thoughts worthy of who we are, and whose we are. Don’t let the world conform your thoughts, but let God transform your thoughts. We are children of God, whose minds are being renewed my God so we might have the mind of Christ and live a life that honors Him.
So what’s the state of your mind today? Is your mind set on what your flesh desires or what the Spirit desires? God’s Word says, “The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6. Are you letting God’s Word guide your thoughts, or are you letting fear and uncertainty cloud your thoughts? Where’s your head?
It’s ok if you’re thoughts are a bit troubled or muddled right now. But God doesn’t way you to stay there. He wants you to have His peace. So, remember you are in a battle for your mind… but God has given us food for thought. So, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— occupy your mind with true, good and worthy things as these. And whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
So let me encourage you today. Take a fast from the news and feed your mind with something good: Start reading the New Testament. Make a book like Philippians your new best friend. Find some of your favorite Scriptures and meditate on them.
Don’t just fill your mind with Netflicks: Take some time to let God fill your thoughts. Read a great biography or some good theology. Read some Psalms of praise out loud. Memorize a new truth. Feed your mind with thoughts that are worthy of a king. After all, you are the child of the King.
With this virus outbreak and the uncertainty it brings, we need to remember that we are in a battle for our minds. But take heart, God is in control. God is doing something through all of this that we can’t see right now. But know this: God loves you with an everlasting love. God is good, beautiful and pure. So let us set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. He has given you eternal life. You belong to Him. And no one or no crisis can ever change that. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. That’s more than just food for thought. That’s the truth we all share through our faith in Jesus. So think on that this week, and the God of peace will be with you.
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