On a recent read through
Philippians, I happened to notice how often Paul refers to the way we
think.
1:9-10 (ESV)-
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with
knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is
excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”
2:2, 5-
“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind... Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”
3:10, 13- “That
I may know Him... But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and
straining forward to what lies ahead.”
3:15- “Let
those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you
think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”
3:19- “Their
end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their
shame, with minds set on earthly things.”
4:8-9-
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy
of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and
received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the
God of peace will be with you.”
The way that we think is important
to God, and what we think about depends largely on what we put into
our minds. When Paul wrote these words, I’m sure he could never
have imagined the wide variety and instantly accessible media we have
today. From where I’m sitting by a lake right now, I can access the
world through my phone. We have a constant temptation to use our time
and brains for unprofitable things.
That’s one of the things that I’ve
been convicted of lately. As I’ve been on sabbatical, I’ve had
much more limited access to television than usual. I haven’t really
missed it, because I’ve had other things to keep me occupied. But I
know when I return to my usual schedule I will have to be careful not
to get back into the same old habits. It’s just so easy to turn on
the TV for background noise while I am doing other things like
reading or writing. What I’ve realized though is how distracting it
actually is to try to multitask. As others have pointed out, we can’t
really multitask. All we can do is switch our attention rapidly from
one thing to another.
While it seems like a harmless
habit, there is very little on TV that qualifies under Paul’s
admonition to think about things that are true, honorable, pure,
lovely, etc. Even when we try to filter what we watch, there is a lot
that is unworthy of our attention. I don’t want to get legalistic
about it, but I know I need to set some boundaries on how I use my
time and attention. I tend to go through phases of cutting things out
then letting them creep back in over time. I am being reminded that
God usually speaks in a still, small voice, and I’m not likely to
hear Him if I’m constantly bombarded with other voices and media.
Even my “quiet times” can be
fragmented by trying to do too many different things. I don’t often
read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting, so it’s not
surprising that I hadn’t previously noted Paul’s repeated
comments on thoughts before. In particular I saw the contrast between
3:19 and 4:8-9, setting our minds on earthly things or on eternal
things. Paul makes the same parallel in Romans 8:5, “For those who
live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on
the things of the Spirit.” So then, why do we who have the Spirit
choose to set our minds on earthly things so often? That’s a
question that we may prefer to avoid unless we really want to make
changes in our lives. I can see why some people will go so far as to
get rid of their television. I’m not ready to take that step, but I
will seriously consider what I can do to reduce the amount of
“earthly input” I’m getting as compared to spiritual input.
Something to think about!
“Indeed, I count everything as
loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as
rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (3:8).
© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise
indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.
