ON THE VANGUARD

THINKING POSITION
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is…”
Proverbs 23:7

Do you remember in elementary school when the teacher would say to the class, “Put your thinking caps on”? I remember I had one teacher who would even make us do the motions of placing a cap on our heads and then making a knot under our chin with the invisible straps so it wouldn’t fall off. I’m not sure it ever did much good, but it did make class fun. Over time, though, my thinking caps and positions have changed. At one point I even found my best thoughts coming to me while lying on my bed with my feet up in the air. Not sure I could do that one now days with my lack of Gumby stretching skills. All in all, though, while the positions have changed, I now realize my thoughts have as well.
We are told in Proverbs 23:7 that as a man thinks, he then is. The simplicity of this is that if we think wrong things, we become wrong things. The flip side is that if we think positive thoughts, we become positive. It seems pretty cut and dry, right? But is it? I find myself many times thinking the worst when in fact I know the Scripture tells me different. For instance, I find myself thinking about my finances and the tightness I feel living pay check to pay check. My thoughts of lack being to strangle me as I then become what I am thinking. The strangling affects all of me, draining my joy and placing a mask of depression over my face.
But what does God’s word say concerning my finances? It says we are to bring tithes and offerings before God. It says that we are blessed coming and going when we walk in God’s standards. And it says we are to be the head and not the tail. Put all this together, and faith begins to grow. The shifting of where we place our thoughts will determine our position.
So maybe you are finding yourself in a position where you are feeling strangled, and I am not just talking according to finances. Maybe you are in a relationship, or in an addiction, or even contemplating your life. Check where your thoughts are at. God’s word gives us hope in every situation we face. Instead of being trapped in our carnal and invalid worldly thing patterns, we should be wearing the thinking cap of God alone. And In Philippians 4:8, we are told the thoughts that are housed inside His cap. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
What are you thinking on, and what position are you in when thinking? Let us be done sitting in the comfy chair of wallow and self-pity which only brings depression for our circumstance. Let us instead sit in the lap of our God and consume our minds with thoughts that are His truth. Let our thinking position be in Him.