Filling the Mind

“Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.” Philippians 4:8

Did you know that your mind is a vacuum? It is. It is a vacuum that you can fill with whatever you want to fill it with. You can fill it with the right things or the wrong things, with bad thoughts or with good thoughts, with gross thoughts or with godly thoughts. The choice is up to you.

If you brought me an empty glass with nothing in it but air and said to me, “Can you tell me how to get the air out of this glass?” That would be an easy answer – fill the glass with water! The way to remove the wrong thing from your mind is to fill your mind with the right things. And what are the right things? To quote the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:8, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy are the right things with which to fill your mind. Whatever you look at and focus on will eventually take root in your mind. That is why focusing on the Bible, reading the Bible, filling your mind with the Word of God is so important. When you do that, you are taking the “dirty air” out of your mind.

When a woman paints her nails, the first thing she does is remove the old fingernail polish. Then she puts on the new polish. When you refinish furniture, the first thing you do is take off the old finish before putting on the new. When you want to repaint an old car, the first thing you have to do is remove the old paint and sand it down. Only then can the new paint be put on. The same thing is true with your mind. You’ve got to literally take off the old and put on the new. As with anything else, this will take time, determination, and hard work, but with the power of God it can be done.

Jesus Christ died on the cross and He came back from the dead. He didn’t just win victory over death; He won victory over life. He didn’t just die for your heart so you can live right. He didn’t just die for your body so you can act right. He died for your mind so you can think right.

Dear God, I want nothing more than to fill my mind with things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Help me to focus on things that will allow me to do that and help me to stay away from anything that is the opposite. In Jesus' name, amen.