Peaceful Green Pastures or the Battlefield
I know what peaceful, green pastures look like. And I’ve seen enough war movies to know what battlefields look like. I also know what the peaceful, green pastures AND the battlefields feel like in my mind. I’d like to think I always chose the peace instead of the battlefield, but why do I/we let the battlefields rage on in our minds? I wrote this blog because I personally need it!
Every day, our minds are bombarded with tens of thousands of thoughts. St. Paul heard from God when he said: “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
I think I hear some battlefield jargon in that passage: ”Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” I get the impression that we are the soldiers, and the thoughts are the enemies. Our assignment is to protect our minds and refuse entrance to trashy, negative thoughts. The minute they appear, we should go into action. “My mind is renewed. I have the mind of Christ. I reject lies, defeat, anger, jealousy, discord, bitterness, sadness, and fear. I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. Enemy, you are not welcome here. So, GET OUT, in the mighty name of Jesus!”
Jesus set the example for us with this kind of heart and mind tactical warfare. Remember the thoughts that came His way, courtesy of the mouth of Peter? Jesus had just prophesied His death, burial, and resurrection, but Peter couldn’t bear the thought of it. “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’” (Matthew 16:22-23)
Just look at the decisiveness of Jesus. A trashy thought comes His way. He is tempted to entertain it. A cross-less life would be nice. But what does He do? He took the thought captive and said: “Get away from me.” As if to say, “You are not allowed to enter my mind.”
What if we did that? What if we took every thought captive? What if we refused to let any trash enter our minds? What if we took the counsel of Solomon: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)
Since we are in the trenches of this warfare, it is critical that we don’t retreat. We put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and instead of dwelling on the negative thoughts, we set our minds on good things. It isn’t enough to cast out negative thoughts if they are not replaced by positive and righteous ones.
As for me, I’ll say: “Alexa, play praise and worship music.” I love how she is quick to obey me! We can read or listen to a positive and uplifting book or podcast or watch a faith-filled YouTube video. We can meditate on scripture. In other words, we can fill our minds with good things that make for peace.
Think about the negative thoughts that Paul could have had in the Roman prison. But look what he wrote in Philippians 4:8 “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.”
Today, let’s turn the battlefields into peaceful, green pastures. Let’s choose to laugh. Let’s choose to be joy-filled. Let’s rehearse the goodness of God. Bottom line: Let’s kick the enemy out and let the Son SHINE in. May we fix our hearts on the One Who always fixes His heart on us.