Ever think about everything you "facebook" and "tweet" in any given day? Ever wonder what good it does? I have. I read somewhere that even when we delete our messages, that they aren't really gone; some tech-whizz can still retrieve them. Would you want everything you've ever said to be retrieved like that? Sheesh...I wouldn't.
Today I sit here thinking about those quick off-the-cuff remarks one says that seem to just roll off your tongue without any directive from one's brain. Dumb stuff. Goofy stuff. Sarcastic stuff. I am as guilty as anyone for blurting out something that seems to fit a niche of conversation rather than sharing a spirit-controlled, thought-filled response. I work on it all the time--thinking better thoughts--so when I do speak, my words might have some edifying power. All too often I talk before I think. And some of what I speak needs to be filtered like the water in my faucet.
I practice this quite often in blogland. So many things could be said that I've kept to myself. On occasion I have written a comment, then simply left the site without submitting the comment. That's happened a lot recently and I got to thinking. If what I am reading is provoking thoughts in me that are better left unsaid, maybe what I am reading is better left unread. How about you? Ever read things you wish you hadn't because, having read them, you form an opinion that is less than seemly towards another brother or sister in Christ? Our minds are not computers. We do not have access to a "delete" button in our brain. Short of severing our brain-stems, or pumping sodium pentathol into our spinal column, we must work at getting rid of the junk that is piling up within the gray matter of our skulls.
We start by confessing with our mouth to the Lord. We pray for clean minds and clean hearts. Then we forget it. What!? say you. How can I just forget it? It's stuck to my brain. Well, once you get rid of one thought, you have to replace it with a good thought. And the more good thoughts you replace it with, the less room there is for a bad thought. That's why I think Paul told us to think on that which is pure and good. If we are thinking good, then we won't be thinking bad. Simple in theory. Difficult at times in practice. But practice we must, don't you think? selahV
