Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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. 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. Philippians 4:4-9
What are you thinking about? As soon as you read that question an answer probably started to formulate, but when you really reflect on it, it’s a much broader question with no quick and easy answer. God has blessed us with an amazing thing between our ears that is capable of more than we even now, for good or for evil. Thus, the multiple warnings in the Bible for us to “keep our head straight.”
Here in verse 8 Paul gives us a pretty significant charge. There are clearly things we should be spending our time thinking on, and subsequently things we should be avoiding. Now one may argue that there is a subjectivity to this. What is really pleasing or excellent? Does purity have a universal standard? When we get caught in this type of thinking we are missing the bigger point. God wants rule and reign of our minds and we need to make an effort to seek Him and make Him the Lord of our entire lives, our heads included.
Currently in 2019 we live in an amazing world of information and technology… do you think do think verses 8 & 9 have anything to say about these areas of our lives? You bet. There is so much bad information and negative influence out there we really need to be careful on what we are allowing to come and reside in our hearts and minds.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not encouraging you to stick your head in the sand and live in blissful ignorance, but what I am saying is to be wise in the process. Are we giving enough time and energy to the things that fill us with the right perspective and cause us to bring praise to the Father? It matters.
The old adage says “garbage in/garbage out.” This is true for a lot of things, you included. My prayer and hope is that you are doing it the right way. That you are seeking God above all else and are allowing His truth, His wisdom & His perspective to be foremost in your mind, heart and spirit.
-Pastor Todd