The purpose of life is the building of character through truth.”
–Phillips Brooks
“A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.”
–Mark Twain
What is that thought in your mind? Imagine if it could be seen–oh my. Some thoughts just float on through while others linger for a few moments. Then there are those that sit themselves down and stay awhile. There are some that want to make your mind their home, but have no business being there at all. I came across the following written by Clarence W. Cranford:
“If your mind was an art gallery in which your thoughts could become visible like pictures hanging on a wall would you be willing for your mother to see the exhibit?
This question was asked in a college chapel service. Some of the students treated it lightly. They joked about it afterward. But some of the students knew it was no laughing matter. The pictures we carry in the mind color the rest of our lives and affect our relationships to God, the greatest art critic of all.
During the exile, some of the Jewish people fell into bad habits. They adorned the walls of a room in their houses with ugly idols. This they did in the dark, not permitting their friends to enter and see what they had in that room. That room became a wall between themselves and God.
The mind is our art gallery. We adorn it with many pictures, some good and some bad. Let us pray for God’s help in the selection of the pictures we imagine.
Prayer: O God, help us in the selection of the pictures we create in the art gallery of the mind. Grant that they may be beautiful to see. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Thoughts, dreams, imaginations, ideas are all part of the things that the mind process. It is extremely hard to stop thoughts from entering, but we certainly do not have to hang them up. Sure, others may not be able to see that they are there, but you bring them to your mind’s eye and the Lord certainly sees them.
Perhaps you and I need to invite the Holy Spirit to the gallery of the mind. Let Him wander around and allow Him to begin to take down the images, thoughts, and dreams that are hanging there. There may be some not pleasing to Him, such as lustful thoughts or the thoughts of self. In other words, don’t keep them hanging around. Instead let the Holy Spirit hang His pictures; let Him give you His thoughts.
“Have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, every man in his room of pictures?”
–Ezekiel 8:12