Have you ever found yourself carrying on a private conversation — with yourself? Such internal dialogue is normal and often quite productive. My own thought life may sometimes seem to be aimless and fragmented, but I've also solved many a problem or planned many an event while I've simply been musing about something.

Many of the PresbyCan devotionals that I have written have started in the form of a seed thought that pops into my mind at random times. I may see something interesting on my neighbourhood walk, and a thought about a life lesson may then begin to form. I can then expand this thought into a cohesive reflection later on. Thoughts come to mind as I'm drifting off to sleep at night or as I'm slowly waking up in the morning. Sometimes, I've gotten out of bed to jot my fragmented thoughts down before they disappear like a vapour. I've even "written" devotionals while taking a shower. I just have to be sure to quickly transfer these thoughts to paper afterward, before I forget them.

My best thinking time, however, is when I'm simply spending some quiet time alone. I can be sitting in a coffee shop reading a book, when something I read prompts a thought that might develop into a devotional, so I quickly scribble descriptive words and phrases on a napkin before they fade into obscurity. Later, I transcribe my gibberish into meaningful thoughts as I piece together these scribbled thoughts and phrases.

My internal thinking as I have described it is often a productive activity. A free-flowing imagination may be basically harmless, and can, indeed, have a genuine upside. Nonetheless, we need to have guardrails in place to monitor our thought life.

The current expression, "garbage in/garbage out", gives us a good precaution for our thought life. If we fill our minds with trash from social media, television, movies, books, and other such outlets, we run the risk of creating a breeding ground for harmful, unguarded thoughts. What we put into our minds can then be reflected in our words and actions. "What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Luke 6:45b NLT)

We need to stay on guard against unfiltered material that can be harmful to our thought life. The apostle Paul tells us:

Philippians 4:8b – Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (NLT)

Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, our words and actions often reveal what is in our hearts and minds. Forgive us when we fall short. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Amen. (Psalm 19:14 NLT)

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About the author:

Gail Lundquist <gail10833@gmail.com>
Beaverton, Oregon, USA
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