Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?

“A penny for your thoughts?” Throughout any given day do you feel like your thoughts are a runaway train, a circus’ center ring, a serene garden landscape, or a foggy scene?! Our brains are full of both important and useless thoughts that take up residence in our head. Our minds are an endless resource of information exchange.  Between your ears there is a steady, silent stream of input and output. This stream is a true reflection of the depth of your thoughts as well as, the purity of the content.  Your noggin is a work of art. Right now, you might be thinking about something else, even while you are reading this blog! 

On average, we can have 6,200 thoughts a day.[1] (I’m not smart enough to understand how someone actually measured this, but they probably thought it through!) One can have 6.5 thought transitions per minute[2] and the elitist can even think about two things at once! (We, as women, are really good at this!) Yet, the Lord knows all our thoughts (Psalm 139:2). He knows whether they are good, bad or “meh.”

Our thoughts hold a lot of power.

Our thoughts can stem from our mood.

Our thinking can direct our actions.

I am mom of four great kids. Teaching them scripture from an early age was important to me and I knew the investment would be important for them too. In their early repertoire of verses, Philippians 4:8 was taught:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

My children can now reference this verse as they have moved from their younger elementary days to middle and high school moments where righteous thinking is of utmost importance. This verse will hopefully become an anchor point for them as adults as well.

Recently, I was reading through Psalm 104. (It’s a beautiful chapter to settle your thoughts on!!!) One verse seemed to stand off the page for me (vs. 34): “May my meditation be sweet to Him.”

Let that simmer under your scalp for a second.

Is what you meditate on, think on, dwell on, pleasing to the Lord?

That verse in Psalm 104 took my mind to Psalm 19:14,

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.”

Our desire should echo the psalmist’s request, that what is rolling around in our head honors the King.

The enemy wants to rob our thoughts of purity and goodness. Scripture calls him a thief (John 10:10) for good reason. Anything good bestowed upon you from your Heavenly Father, and the enemy would love to get his slimmey fingers on it. The enemy also wants to counterfeit what God came up with first. Honestly, Satan just isn’t smart enough to figure things out on his own, so he is left to be the biggest copycat around. The devil has ensnared the world to take the word “meditate” and pervert it with new-age infiltration which centers on self and emotions. On the contrary to cultural claims, meditation was God’s idea first.

Meditation is culturally defined to “engage in contemplation or reflection or to engage in mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness.”

My modern yet spirit-filled definition would be: “to sit still long enough, and setting aside your phone, to allow the brain to delight on the depth and importance of God’s Word and its necessity and benefit for the spirit and soul.“ When we truly focus and meditate on God’s Word, we are feeding our soul a second helping of what we read, heard, or learned the first time through. Think of it like enjoying a second piece of chocolate cake!

Let’s refresh our thoughts upon Ps 104:34. “May my meditation be sweet to Him...”  There is more to this verse: “…I will be glad in the Lord.” The benefit of having your cranium set on the Lord results in joy!  It is a win-win situation!

His thoughts for us outnumber the sands on the shore. And you know what? His thoughts are all good. (Psalm 139:17-18)

Align your thoughts with Heaven.  Sustain your thoughts on His wondrous ways.  Desire to please the Lord with your thinking. You will be glad you did. 

Psalm 104:34. “May my meditation be sweet to Him, I will be glad in the Lord.”

[1] Bigthink.com “ NEUROPSYCH” — JULY 16, 2020

[2] Healthline.com. Feb 28, 2022