Determine to speak with God when you first awake, as David did, “When I awake, I am still with thee” (Psalm 139:18). To prevent vain, windy, frothy thoughts from taking possession of your heart when you first awake, first fill your heart with thoughts of God. Many vanities and businesses will be seeking to rush into your thoughts. But you must speak with God first; He will say something to your heart that will settle it for all that day. (The Vanity of Thoughts by Thomas Goodwin
I quoted the above on Sunday from Thomas Goodwin’s The Vanity of Thoughts. We have a lot of time to think. Though busy with many daily tasks, we are always thinking and often need to be more careful in what we think about. Useless or disruptive thoughts can linger unless we dismiss them for something more worthy to contemplate. Jesus said we are to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) How do we love the Lord with our mind? Goodwin suggests gratitude is helpful when potentially prideful thoughts enter in:
[People] enjoy observing [their learning, wisdom, and abilities] in the mirror of their own contemplation, just as beautiful faces often and longingly gaze into mirrors. This tendency arises from the self-flattery within people and the desire to keep their happiness constantly fresh and present in their minds. However, when these thoughts do not lead the heart to gratitude towards God and are not used for that purpose, but rather serve as bellows for pride, they are vain and detestable in the eyes of God. (The Vanity of Thoughts by Thomas Goodwin)
Regardless of how much you may want to hide it, what you think about and meditate on is who you become. Proverbs 4:23 states, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Your speech and actions are the results of your thoughts. Thoughts have this power because they serve our affections, which can lead to pride. When Job, pleading for a response to his tremendous suffering, finally met God in all his grandeur and power, he said, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.” (Job 40:4)
This season of thanksgiving and as we approach Advent rejoicing in Emmanuel, "God with us," let's be thankful for the Lord and praise him for his holiness, majesty, and power. Goodwin concludes by stating, "If any thoughts have the power to settle, anchor, and captivate the human mind, it is thoughts of Him.”
