Week Forty-One - Imagination Station

Occasionally, during a church service, I find myself drifting off in a thousand different directions. Maybe thinking of the week's events, the dress someone is wearing, a song that had been sung, or even something that happened when I was a child. 

This day-dreaming isn't limited to church services; it also happens when I am trying to read my Bible or pray. But I don't have the same trouble when I am watching TV, shopping, or at a party with friends. Do you know what I mean?

Many  Christians have this problem. We have given our hearts and lives to the Lord Jesus, but our minds remain our own. It takes strict discipline to keep our thoughts on the things of God. It is so important that we guard our minds against stray thinking. It not only robs us of the present blessings but can lead to strange desires and sensual, devilish ideas. It gets very serious when we consider that our thoughts come from what is in our hearts!

The Bible is full of scriptures about thought control. The first one that comes to my mind is 2 Corinthians 10:5, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 

Taking every thought captive is a tall order. My thoughts jump around so quickly, I can barely hold one for two seconds! How could I ever bring every thought captive? And my imagination? I've built houses, given speeches, designed dresses, and even redecorated the church with my imagination. So that, too, is hard to rope in.

I memorized one tiny scripture years ago that helps me with some of this. 1 Corinthians 13:5 holds the phrase, "thinketh no evil." I memorized it as, "Love thinketh no evil," because 1 Corinthians 13 is the love chapter. When I catch my thoughts being unkind, angry, or disgruntled, I quote this little phrase to myself, and my thoughts usually get back into line with love and patience.

Another scripture that helps me is Proverbs 16:3, "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." When my mind whirls and my imagination runs wild with fears and what-ifs, I throw on the brakes and give those thoughts to the Lord. I have always found that He brought me back to reality and gave me a clear way forward, one that wasn't imaginary, but real and feasible.

Here is a little poem I recorded years and years ago that might sum up our thoughts today.

Oh God, I offer Thee my heart -
In many a mystic mood, by beauty led,
I give my heart to Thee. But now impart
That sterner grace - to offer Thee my head.

Author Unknown

Oh, how we need that sterner grace! Let's put up a hedge around our thoughts and determine that our Lord not only has our heart and body, but He also has our mind.