April 8, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

Genesis 48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

You’ve heard the phrase “I never dreamed…”  Sometimes things happen in life that we never even thought about. Israel, formerly called Jacob, said to his son Joseph that he never thought that he would see him again. But he did. Not only did he see Joseph he saw Joseph’s children, Jacob’s grandchildren. Remember the story, Israel thought Joseph was dead because his brothers had told him so. As Sir Walter Scott once wrote, “O, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” But Joseph wasn’t dead and toward the end of his life Israel was united again with his beloved son Joseph.

Every day most come face to face with things that they have never thought about. Happy things, sad things, dangerous things, and sometimes costly things like accidents and such. This not only makes life interesting, it also makes life challenging. Sometimes the greatest things of life are the things we are not expecting. There is a certain mystique in life that both intrigues and terrifies at the same time. Things that we have never thought of often come to pass.

There is a lesson here. No matter how smart we are, how prepared we are, or how thoughtful we are about our future, there is something out there that will come into our lives that we have never even thought about. This is why having a mind founded on Christ and His Word is important, it is at those times of the unexpected that we must act or react appropriately. Ask God to help you keep the right thoughts when things you have never even thought about take place.

May all the things you have never thought about that come into your life be good things!

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

Dr. William T. Howe