September 21, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

Job 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

If you listen long enough people will tell you their thoughts about you. Their devices will become known. Job’s friends have been telling him their thoughts since chapter four; he listened and knew what they were saying and what they were trying to do. They were attempting to find some secret sin, or hidden hypocrisy, or pride in Job. So, they spared no words in telling him their thoughts. Instead of praying for him, consoling him, comforting him, or taking care of his needs, they accused him.

It bears repeating, if you listen long enough people will tell you their thoughts about you. Listening is difficult for many people. I was once in a management training session in which we were being trained on how to interview candidates for employment. We were told that the number one mistake interviewers make is that they speak more than they listen. We broke up into groups of two for mock interviews. One manager would be the interviewer, and one would be the interviewee. After a few practice sessions we were videotaped, the video was shown to the entire group for critique. Humbling!

One of our most senior managers began his mock interview with a question to his partner. Which is ok, except the time limit on our interview was ten minutes and his question took the entire time. The interviewee did not say one word in the mock interview. It was both hilarious and instructive. This senior manager had a very difficult time listening,

A sales manager once said to me “I know everything about me, and very little about the person to which I am speaking. This puts me at a great disadvantage when dealing with them. If I want to learn that which the other person knows, I must ask good questions and listen carefully to what they have to say.”   During a conversation it is all too easy to fall into the habit of thinking about what you will say, or ask next, instead of actually listening to the other person.

Job listened and he knew the thoughts of his friends. Many will say that they know what someone else is thinking, but they don’t, they just imagine that they do. That is a topic for another devotion for another day.

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

Dr. William T. Howe