When I was growing up, whenever I would become quiet, introspective or preoccupied someone would offer, “A penny for your thoughts.” Sadly, there were times my thoughts weren’t a good investment even at that price. I haven’t heard that phrase in a long time, maybe because pennies are becoming obsolete or it could be that people are so preoccupied with their own thoughts and their devices that they are no longer curious about what others think. As Philippians 4:8 reminds us, our thoughts should be worth much more: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Prospective brides used to be told, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. Of course that was before fast food, takeout and frozen meals turned most kitchens into warming stations. Ask Satan the way to a man’s heart and he will tell you it is through his mind. There is a very close relationship between what is in our heart and what is on our mind. Evil can enter a mind from an evil heart, but it can also enter a pure heart through evil thoughts planted in one’s mind by the enemy. I learned a long time ago that as a believer I cannot keep tempting thoughts from flying through my mind from time to time, but I can keep them from building a nest there.
Each form of sin and addiction begins with a single tempting thought. How can we shoo those thoughts away before making themselves at home in our minds and then our hearts? Thankfully, God has provided the power of His Spirit within us to protect our hearts and minds if we are obedient to His promptings. We certainly could not rely on our sinful nature to resist. God promises to keep in perfect peace all who trust in Him and whose thoughts are fixed on Him. (Isaiah 26:3) That is the key. When our thoughts are fixed on Him and His will in our lives, there is no room for those tempting thoughts to take up residence. Praying, worshiping and studying God’s word all fill our minds and our hearts to overflowing. That provides the antidote for Satan’s infectious evils, the shield for his fiery darts, and the repellant for those pesky tempting thoughts.
While we are keeping our minds fixed on God, what does God think about us? Scripture tells us, “No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:11) As God’s Holy Spirit speaks to us from within, we learn what God thinks. He thinks we are to die for. (John 3:16) As the psalmist put it, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered.” (Psalms 139:17)
That is what is on my mind – a penny for your thoughts.