Things and Thoughts

Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. This is all there is in the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. But none of these comes from the Father. They come from the world. The world is passing away, and all the things that people want in the world are passing away. But whoever does what God wants will live forever. (I John 2:15-17)

Where are our affections placed? Whatever we focus on the most likely has more than our attention - it may also have our affection! Three very clear indicators our life may need a bit of adjustment are laid out in our passage today. There is a tremendous desire to please one's own self in this world today - go after what YOU want and don't be concerned about what it may do to others. The thought of pleasing oneself can take over the thoughts and heart of an individual, making everything they do very self-focused. The sinful things we see might just fuel a deeper 'lust' that lies deep within us - the desire for more, the craving for what we don't have, and the urge to 'get' in order to feel 'fulfilled' all give us more than one headache, don't they? If that weren't enough, we find ourselves caught up in comparing what we 'have' with what others 'don't have'. You've heard the saying that a man's head can get too big for him to pass through the door - pride swells within, driving us to do and say things we frequent regret later. All three of these 'patterns of behavior' are fueled when our focus is not rightly placed. Perhaps this is why we are warned that none of these behaviors exhibit the behavior God wants to see in the lives of his children.

All the things we want 'in this world' will one day pass away - they are fleeting. Even the 'accomplishments' of our incessant 'doing' will one day pass away. We might have a tombstone that suggests we 'did something' worthwhile, but if we lived with our focus on what we thought others would see as 'worthwhile', we likely missed what God actually sees as worthy of our affection and attention. The world has a very different view of what is 'important' and what we should 'run after', doesn't it? The message of the world's philosophy is 'put your needs first'. The message of God's Word is put others first. The world's philosophy says our accomplishments will matter, while God's message is that what his Son accomplished on the cross is all that matters! We may not see much harm in seeking after things, a better position in life, or even having a bit of 'pride' when we finally achieve whatever it is we are seeking to accomplish, but if all our 'striving' has taken our focus off of Jesus, we have accomplished very little in the end. The world's 'stuff' and 'positions' all pass away in the end. What remains is the relationship we developed with Jesus along the way. If things or thoughts get in the way of that, perhaps they aren't what should have our affection in the first place. Just sayin!

Who's vying for that spot?

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 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. (Philippians 4:8)

Have you ever taken notice of how easy it is to get your mind working in the wrong direction? It doesn't take much effort to drift down that bunny-trail without a care in the world, until all of a sudden you see how 'deep' it is! God tells us to 'fix' our thoughts - not like fixing your car, but to 'consider attentively'. When our minds go down the bunny-trail, there isn't a whole lot of 'attention' being paid to where we are headed. In fact, we are a bit aimless in those thoughts. We allow them to dictate the journey rather than us determining the journey.

We are to give our minds 'attentively' (on purpose, with determination) to think about who Jesus is and what he has done. What did he do while he was here on earth? What is he doing now that he is at the right hand of God the Father? How did he go about his work? Who mattered to him? What didn't faze him? In other words, we are to meditate upon who and what he is. These are indeed thoughts that are excellent and worthy of praise! If we are feeling a bit down, it is likely that our thoughts are not fixed on Jesus because he doesn't go down that bunny-hole!

True and honorable thoughts. That might take us a bit of effort, huh? It is easy to imagine what isn't 'fully true' because the truth can sometimes expose what we don't want exposed. It is easiest to get caught up in thoughts that call into question someone else's fault or faux pas and not ours. Remember this - to 'fix' upon something, there has to be determined motion toward it. Fix your thoughts upon truth and you will find yourself seeking truth, weeding out deception of all kinds in your thoughts, and looking toward what is honorable, right, pure, lovely, and ultimately admirable. 

We have a bird feeder that is 'well-attended' by the neighborhood flocks. They try to 'fix' upon the edge of the tray that holds the seed because that is how they get nourished. When there are ten birds all vying for the same spot in line on the perch, it is amazing to watch their behavior. They crawl on each other, flap their wings to stay on the perch, and generally cause more chaos than 'attentive feeding'. When there are so many thoughts vying for our attention, it easy to allow the chaos to be our focus and not Christ. Fix on him and you will find your thoughts nourish your soul, spirit, and heart a whole lot more! Just sayin!