mind

One night a wife found her husband standing over their baby's crib. Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism.

Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arm around her husband.

"A penny for your thoughts," she said.

"It's amazing!" he replied. "I just can't see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50."

Sometimes our thoughts are not as grand as they might be. We partake of the Lord's Supper and ought to have our thoughts centered on the sacrifice of our Savior. Instead, we think about what we're going to eat for dinner. We see a spectacular sunset and ought to be led to reflect on the glory and grandeur of God the Creator. Instead, we wonder who's winning the ball game.

You get the idea. As difficult as it is to keep our lives and our tongues under control, it seems so much more difficult to bring our "every thought into captivity" (2 Cor. 10:5). If we're not careful, our thoughts tend to wander into forbidden territory. Allow these words of Paul to call us back:

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things." (Philippians 4:8)