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This necessarily applies to our thought life. We, as created creatures, have been made with minds that have the capacity to think about many things very rapidly (sometimes not as rapidly or as well as we might wish!) This means that each day we may think upwards of ten thousand individual thoughts. That's a lot of thoughts. But each one is to be holy. What a calling! (Not only that, but we know that our God is absolutely aware of each of our thoughts : "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man .." [Psalm 94:11], "And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" [Matthew 9:4])

Some would say that there are other aspects of our Christian life that deserve greater attention. Perhaps we would be better off concentrating on what we say to others in the Church or the world, or perhaps working on our actions towards them? Perhaps how we respond or talk with our spouse, our parents, our children, our employer? These are all very important aspects of our daily life, and worthy of our attention, but I would put it to you that they all stem from our thought life. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he... " (Proverbs 23:7). "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man... " (Matthew 15:18-20). So then, how can we hope to change that which is wrong and evil in our day to day life, without first changing the thoughts and intents of our heart? And it is not just a small alteration and fine tuning which needs to be done : what is needed is a radical changing of our entire way of thinking and the way we approach every situation in life - as Christians we are to become 'new men', and the old man must be exposed and defeated. "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Can any person hope to perfectly keep the righteous and good law of God? No, of course not. We are instructed by the Scriptures : "... There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10), also Paul tells us "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do" (Romans 7:19). It is only through the Spirit of God working His sanctifying grace in our hearts that we may hope to grow in this area. We must pray for this grace - we know that our Lord is pleased to bless His people. We must also be practical. It is no use to pray "Please help me Lord" and then sit back and hope one morning we will wake up with pure thoughts. The Christian life is not anything if it is not practical and active. The Bible describes our walk in this life not as a stroll in the park, but as warfare. Each hour of each day we are to be fighting, not just against the foes that are without the Church, but against the very thoughts that arise in our hearts. "Put on the whole armour of God..." (Ephesians 6:11), "Fight the good fight of faith..." (I Timothy 6:12). So then, we are to be very active and fighting to sanctify our hearts in our thought life. But how? Let us look at some things that may help in this area.

Meekness and Repentance

When we are going about our daily life, we must recognise that we are easily led astray and drawn into sin. Our thoughts naturally gravitate towards those things that are wrong. Therefore, in a humble acknowledging of this we may be watchful at all hours of the day as to the direction our thoughts are taking.

We are to remember what our brethren are : they are fellow-heirs with Christ; made holy in the sight of God; forgiven of all sin by the Almighty; filled with the graces that God has wrought in them; and they are better than ourselves : "...but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Philippians 2:3). How then can we berate or denigrate them, even in our thoughts?

Prayer

Prayer is to be a pouring out of our helplessness before a merciful Saviour, knowing that He is our help in time of need. Prayer may be at any time, and therefore is a powerful help at times through the day when we find our thoughts drifting astray - a quick prayer to our ever-present Lord will be a great help.

Recognising our Calling

Some Examples

1. Lusts. Lust has come to mean things of a sexual nature these days, but the Biblical meaning is one of a desiring after material or physical things such as food, power, possessions, money, prestige, sex, etc. In the Scriptures, 'lust' is usually used with the connotation of an evil desire. There is a right desire after the good gifts that God has given, and a right desire to better the position of ourselves and others, but these desires always arise out of that original desire to glorify God and serve others. How often do we find ourselves yearning wrongfully after that which we do not have, or desiring that which is evil in itself? "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren" (James 1:14-16).

    

2. Thinking About Others. If we think back over the past week, which of us is able to say that we have thought charitably toward all of our brethren all of the time? It is very informative and not a little daunting to see what the larger catechism in our Westminster Confession of Faith has to say about our responsibilities. When we look at questions 143 through 145, we find the exposition of the ninth commandment Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Amongst other things, we are to :
   • have a charitable esteem of our neighbours,
   • love, desire and rejoice in their good name,
   • freely acknowledge their gifts and graces,
   • be very willing to hear a good report and very unwilling to accept an evil report concerning them,
   • discourage tale-bearers, flatterers and slanderers.

   In addition to these we are also not to :

   • speak the truth at a wrong time,
   • use the truth maliciously to a wrong end,
   • pervert the truth to a wrong meaning, or use the truth in doubtful or equivocal expressions and so prejudice truth or justice,
   • be tale bearers, scoffers or whisperers,
   • misconstrue intentions, words or actions,
   • be vain-glorious boasters,
   • think or speak too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others,
   • aggravate smaller faults,
   • air or open up people's sins or faults unnecessarily,
   • listen to and accept evil reports,
   • envy or grieve at the deserved credit of any person,
   • have scornful contempt for any person.

   So which of us, I ask again, has been charitable towards our brethren by following the requirements of Scripture as summarised in Larger Catechisms 143-145? Perhaps we need reminding of these things more often so that we may work the harder on our thoughts and conform them to the pattern of God's Word. And, as I have said earlier, this will flow on to better relationships within the Body of Christ as we think better of one another and avoid the bitterness and misunderstanding that arises due to the sin within our own hearts.

    

3. Daydreaming. There is a right and proper use of recreation and relaxation, and our Lord encourages us to enjoy the reward of our labours : "A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him" (Proverbs 12:14). Part of this is the relaxation of our mind, and the time to turn our mind away from our business and concerns. Nevertheless, there is also the possibility of sin here in our thoughts, and this in the area of omission. We can be tempted into spending long periods of time 'staring into space' and happily thinking about what may come to pass in the future, and the sorts of things we would like to happen to us. All the while, the businesses and responsibilities that our Lord in His providence has laid upon us lie undone at our drowsy feet : "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man" (Proverbs 24:33-34); (Be) "not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11).

I hope that these few thoughts gleaned from God's Word may be a help to myself and others as we seek to become more Christ-like in our daily lives. May God grant that we may meditate upon these things, and show forth the love of Christ increasingly in both our inward and outward lives.

"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" (II Corinthians 10:5).

by David Torlach

The Burning Bush, Vol 1, No 3, October 1997