24 Mar 2012 The wheels

by Marilyn Mathis

“The wheels on the bus go round and round,

Round and round, round and round.

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

All over town."

Do your thoughts ever go round and round like the wheels on the bus? Have you ever wished that just for a minute you could shut off your mind like the alarm on the clock? Do you long for sweet silence from those annoying, distressing and discouraging thoughts that just won’t stop spinning around in your head? Thoughts about people, pain, problems, priorities, plans that can produce fear, worry, anger, pity, confusion, jealousy, bitterness, resentment . . . round and round they go!

How do you stop the wheels on the bus of your mind? The best counsel for learning to control thoughts is found in the Bible. What does God have to say in His Word about your thought life? There are many scriptures that refer to your mind, but I want to look at just a few that have been helpful to me.

A REVEALED MIND — God knows your thoughts! “The LORD knows the thoughts of man.” Psalm 94:11 “But Jesus knew their thoughts . . . ” Matthew 12:25 You may hide your thoughts from others, but God sees every hustling, bustling thought buzzing around in your brain. None are hidden from Him. His knowledge is a strong motivation to be careful in your thinking.

A CAPTURED MIND — Your thoughts are a CHOICE!

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 

If you don’t control your thoughts, then your thoughts will control you. And you become an unwilling passenger of a mind that goes round and round all over the place. 

The word picture in the Greek of “taking every thought captive” is of a prisoner of war led away captive. You are in a battle for your mind. The devil, your own flesh and the culture you live in want to control your thinking. 

Suppose you have a sponge and a glass of Coke. If you dip your sponge into Coke and squeeze it, what’s going to come out? Sprite? No, when you squeeze a sponge soaked in Coke, Coke is going to gush out of it. If you saturate your mind with questionable movies, magazines, books, music and television, do you think that holiness and happiness and godliness will flow out of you? I don’t think so! You must put a guard on your thoughts just as a captive of war is guarded night and day. Are you on guard?

A SET MIND — Seek spiritual things. “Set your mind on things above and not things of the earth.” Colossians 3:2 This verse became very real to me on April 10, 1965. That was the day a tornado tore through Conway and demolished many businesses and homes, including mine. Everything was gone in just a matter of minutes. My house, clothes, furniture, pictures and personal treasures were lifted up and blown away never to be seen again. I realized that “things or stuff” can be gone in the blink of an eye and that I must not set my mind on them. Those things were lost to me forever, but my spiritual home, treasures and clothes (Would you believe a robe of righteousness and a wedding gown designed just for me?) are mine for all eternity. 

A RENEWED MIND — Fill up each day with a fresh supply of God’s Word. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . . . ” Romans 12:2 

To renew your mind means to begin again, refresh, to continue, to fill up with a fresh supply – fresh supply of what? God’s Word! The best way to take control of your mind, to guard what you think, is to READ AND STUDY GOD’S WORD! In this way, you exchange your thoughts for His. Are you pulling the bus of your mind into the filling station of God’s presence each day for Him to fill you up?

A STEADFAST MIND — concentrate on Him! “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3 

One of the greatest blessings of staying your mind on God is His peace. He can stop the wheels of your mind from going round and round. When you “fix your eyes on Jesus,” make Him the center of your focus and thoughts, and He will produce in you His marvelous peace that passes all understanding.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or THINK, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

In His love and mine,

Marilyn