True Thinking

Posted 10/2/2000

"Whatsoever things are true" - Philippians 4:8

Thinking correctly, finding out the truth, getting to the heart of the matter. Seeking what is true, and dwelling on it. The context makes this clearly a good thing, which rules out thinking about the awful truth, or the all-too-easy-to-find dirty truth about others.

So, what's true?

This type of thinking is not effective if you just run down a list. "Thinking on" is a matter of rummaging through your head looking following ideas, distracting yourself, getting back to the point, wondering why ?

What in the world can be fascinating about truth? The word itself almost seems dry and uninteresting. Truth. It looks ominous and foreboding - think about it? How is that supposed to be beneficial to me?

Jesus called Himself the truth . That's a good start for meditating about. What about Jesus is true? Do any of those traits make a difference to me? If it weren't so certainly true, life as I know it would be meaningless and purposeless. Or would it? How much difference does the Truth make in my life? That's what thinking about it is all about. Making Jesus a part of my thinking, yielding to the power of the Spirit in changing my mind and character into tools of God . Does that sound too prepossessing?

The truth is, it's either me or God. My true situation and state needs to be uncovered from the sneaky shield of a self-image that dearly loves to see itself as good, as independent, as sufficient. Who needs God ? Life works well enough anyway, doesn't it? I'm not really all that bad!

Lies vs. truth. Self makes it easy to forget failures, gloss over imperfections, ignore the base nature inherent in every human being. Truth doesn't hide a thing. God's impeccable holiness demands the truth, and gets it every time. His Word neatly and utterly thoroughly cuts to bone and lays open the true nature of a man's heart.

Once that door has been opened, and God's precious Spirit has moved in, renovations can start taking place. The person of God actually a part of man. The truth is, God created man, and He created him with a built-in need for God. That need can only be met on way - with God Himself. Oh, that person will try any number of other "gods" to try to meet that desire, but nothing does.

But when God moves in, truth can take over and become the guiding principle in that life. Especially as that life lives on forever, and can spend all eternity loving, learning about, and being with the absolute Truth.