"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
One of my favorite things to do is just go for a drive. It’s a chance for me to be by myself, most likely blasting music, and simply cruising down the streets or the freeway. One thing I realized about when I go on these drives, I don’t always know where I am going. Not that I am lost, but I have become so familiarized with the streets that each turn is almost second nature. I can drive all day, know which turns to make, what lanes to be in, what streets to avoid, where the stop signs are, where the lights are, and finally leading to where I’m supposed to go. And this idea just amazed me because of how all of this was engrained in me. When people ask for directions, I can tell them where to go. When people ask for certain stores, I know exactly where they are talking about. And there isn’t a hesitation but rather a confidence in what I know to be true.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could say the exact same thing about our faith? If we could say with a pure confidence the truths of God’s Word? If we knew the Scriptures like we know our streets, our neighborhood, our twists and turns and directions to drive? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
As we devote time to any ordinary habit in our lives, why not do the same, if not more, with our relationship with God? Let’s spend time training our minds to the level where faith becomes such a priority in our lives. Let’s fix our minds on God beyond our morning and night devotion and prayer time, beyond our small group sessions, beyond the hour we sit inside the church building. As we think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy”, may we remember that these very things that God calls us to think about is all from Him! So may we think of Him through all aspects of our lives and do so to the degree where it becomes like second nature to us. May our lives be so consumed by God that only He can be glorified.
Prayer: Father God, as we think about our lives, we tend to develop routines. May one routine become prioritized over them all, knowing and spending time with You. May Your words fill our lives that we may not question You or fall stray. And may we think about all these things that You call us to think about, so that You may be glorified and praised through it all. Amen.
