Thinking

Sometimes we wonder what people are thinking, so we say, “A penny for your thoughts.” Hopefully, our thoughts are worth more than that. But that’s beside the point. I do a lot of thinking. Deep thinking. What about you? Strangely enough, I sometimes ask my husband what he’s thinking about, and he says, “Nothing.” I wonder how that’s possible. My mind goes constantly.

Our thinking may lead us down rabbit trails that lead us nowhere. When I’m awake in the night, I have to purposefully direct my thoughts away from something that happened during the day. If it’s something that haunts me, a better option is to think of Scripture verses that are encouraging. Fortunately, I learned lots of verses when I was young and I can go through the alphabet thinking of verses or phrases that start with each letter of the alphabet.

Today I’m meditating on an appropriate verse that says: “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” (Philippians 4:8, NIV).

This is more than the “power of positive thinking.” It’s a good antidote for all of the bad news on television that drags us down. This kind of meditation centers us with a healthy perspective and a mind like Christ.

Try thinking of even one of the categories listed in the verse mentioned above. For example, make a mental list of things that are lovely. Enjoy the sights and sounds and feelings that come to mind. There’s plenty in God’s creation to keep you going for a while. Remember that none of these things are possible apart from God.

Are you ready to put your thinking cap on and let your mind be saturated with good things?