OUR GREAT THOUGHT TESTER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Yet you know me, Lord; You see me and test my thoughts about You.”

Jeremiah 12:3a

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How many things do you think about in a day’s time?

Think about that for a minute and you will add one more to your count which, if you try it, is almost impossible because our minds always seem to be in action. We never seem to be at rest when it comes to pondering things.

These thoughts we have are private unless we choose to share them with someone else, trapped within the confines of our mind and heart. We can easily think good and bad things about a person without them even knowing it. We can also think sinfully and go undetected.

Or can we?

You see, if we look at our thoughts purely from a worldly perspective, we can convince ourselves that those thoughts are strictly secretive and undetectable by anyone or anything else. No one has the power to see into our minds and know what we’re thinking.

But when we turn to the scriptures and consider this matter of thoughts spiritually, we see everything change in a big way. Look at these words of Jeremiah as we finish our study of Chapter 12:

“Yet you know me, Lord; You see me and test my thoughts about You.” Jeremiah 12:3a

As we see by his own admission, the prophet realized that the Lord was like no other. He knew Jeremiah intimately and could peer into his very soul, heart, and mind to see his prophet’s thoughts, testing them to see if they contained righteousness or sinfulness and either blessing or judging accordingly.

Through this truth, we see that the Lord is our great thought Tester.

Jeremiah wasn’t alone in this realization. Look at these words of David who preceded Jeremiah:

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. Psalm 139:1-4

Like the prophet after him, David the King knew that the Lord knew all his thoughts and ways, always being tested.

We can fast forward to our Savior Jesus and see the Son of God showing us that the beliefs of David and Jeremiah were absolutely valid. Look at these words from our Savior:

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?  Matthew 9:3-4

Note here the scribes, who were supposed to be the experts in Jewish law, were thinking to themselves about Jesus but those thoughts were far from hidden because Jesus could perceive them all, calling out the scribes for their evil ponderings. He could see their thoughts then and He can see our thoughts today as can God, His Father.

So all this brings us to a question for us to think about, not just today but every day:

When God and/or Jesus look at my thoughts and test them, what do they see?  

Maybe we cringe when we consider this. Maybe we have a clear conscience but I think we all fail and fall badly when it comes to this matter. That’s why this simple scripture verse is so critical because it convicts us and serves to drive us toward a closer consideration of everything we do before the Lord.

For it’s not only our words and actions that are measured. Our thoughts are as well.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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