March 4

Thinking Leads to Doing

Your servant will meditate on your decrees.  ––Psalm 119:23

“Okay Cam, let me ask you just one question. Before that moment that was so powerful and tempting, how long did you have these thoughts about Mandy and the possibility of doing what you did? Was it off and one? Give or take a few weeks?” In a barely audible voice, Cameron whispered, “Six months ago.”

Bingo!

As I speak to men I tell them point blank: There is no such thing as an irresistible temptation. The reality is that most men who fail do so because they construct scenarios in their minds long before they actually act on one of them. The temptation itself is not intrinsically irresistible. The dazzling number of mental imaginations ahead of time, however, weaken our will to the point of total vulnerability. The old saying, “You can do anything if you put your mind to it” is true—and for God’s man, absolutely critical. God plants warnings throughout His Word against sinful thoughts. Many are found in Proverbs, such as, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (Proverbs 4:23, NCV).

Because God knows how powerfully He designed our minds to be, He commands us to take great care in what we allow our minds to dwell upon. One hundred billion neurons strong and able to make 200 calculations per second, the mind is designed to think your thoughts and do marvelous things. It is a force, God tells us, that will determine our personal destinies.

The defining marker for God’s man is that he thinks deeply and continuously about what God has spoken. And just as my plain pork ribs take on a new identity as they soak in the special marinade, so the man who immerses himself in God’s Word takes on the very character of God: he is changed into someone new.

Take your thoughts captive. It’s literally like a war—take prisoners of your worst and basest thoughts. Banish them from your mind. Scripture is the arsenal; prayer is the device; the Holy Spirit is the One who can help us when we feel helpless in the face of white-hot temptation. And lastly, get that thought into the light by sharing it with a trusted brother. That’s when iron truly sharpens iron.

Father, meditating on your love and commitment to me is a powerful remedy for my temptations.