April 6, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

Genesis 20:11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.

The first usage of the word “thought” in the Bible is a false thought. This is so typical. Abraham was fearful that the people of Gerar would kill him and take his wife, so he lied. Actually, he told a half-truth and as the old saying goes, a half-truth is a full lie. Abraham’s thought life was clouded by his fear. When caught in his lie, Abraham said that he thought that the fear of God was not in this place. But it was.

God relayed to Abimelech the king of Gerar that the woman he desired was not Abraham’s sister, but Abraham’s wife. In verse 6 God states that He had been involved in the situation by having His unseen hand withhold Abimelech from such a great sin. This proves that the fear of God was in that place, Abraham’s thought was wrong. Sometimes thoughts are wrong. It is as simple as that.

It is always amazing to see people who will do anything to defend themselves. They are so sensitive to being seen as wrong that they do the most bizarre things or say the silliest things just to prove that they are not wrong, even though they are. No one knows everything and sometimes our thinking is just wrong. There is no feeling like the feeling one gets when they are in the middle of an argument or disagreement, and they suddenly realize that they are wrong. Everyone has probably experienced this at one time or another.

During covid my wife was in a hospital with a non-covid illness. She was there for a week, and I could not even visit her once. On a certain morning my missing her was too much so I thought I would drown my fears and loneliness by going to the local Chick fil la for a breakfast chicken biscuit. I drove boldly up to the drive through speaker and ordered a chicken biscuit. “Sir, we have no chicken biscuits.” The employee responded, and an argument began. After just a minute or two he was frustrated with me and I was frustrated with him. “I know you have chicken biscuits …no I do not want a panini …I buy chicken biscuits here for my wife all the time.” It was bad! Then he said it… “Sir, this is Starbucks!”  I was wrong on so many levels! Have you been there, that moment you realize your thought was wrong. There is no feeling like it.

Many things affect our thought life; Abraham’s thought was misguided by fear. Mine was misguided by being in the wrong place. There are other things and emotions that can negatively affect thoughts: anger, envy, pride, lusts, insecurity, doubt, and even love (so called). The lesson herein is to beware, for not all thoughts that a person thinks are correct. 

May the Lord bless and be pleased with your thought life today.

Dr. William T. Howe