The Thought Reader - Martin Wiles

You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. Psalm 139:2 NLT

The sign said she could—but I had my doubts.

When I was a preteen growing up in the 1970s, Palm Reader signs decorated almost every town, large and small. Funny, I never saw any vehicles in their parking lots, but the sign said “Open.” Although I often wondered how they could read a palm and know a person’s future by doing so, I never visited a palm reader when I reached the age where I could have. Dad called them phonies, and I adopted his stance. Forty plus years later, some of the signs remain, but the businesses are closed.

The horoscope page in the local newspaper was another popular item when I was young. Occasionally, I’d read mine. After all, everyone else was. The predictions seemed quite generic, as if anyone could write one with the chances pretty high that what was predicted might come true. Dad labeled it nonsense, and once again I claimed his viewpoint. A waste of my time.

What palm readers and horoscopes claim the ability to do—but can’t—God does. According to the psalmist, He is a thought reader. And He doesn’t guess. He knows all about my past, present, and future. I choose to believe the psalmist’s viewpoint. Believing God could do this seemed more plausible than the horoscope page or the palm reader. Since God created me, it seems only logical that He can guide me along the best life path.

Knowing God can read my thoughts changes my perspective on life. If He knows my thoughts, they must carry as much weight as the words I actually speak. And He must hold me as accountable for them as He does for my words. Jesus confirms this in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. According to Him, thinking something wrong makes me as guilty as if I had committed the deed itself.

Realizing God knows my thoughts means my life is transparent to Him. And since thoughts often lead to actions, I must manage them well lest my actions result in a lifestyle foreign to the way God wants me to live.

Only God can give us the power to control our thoughts—and our actions. Ask Him to help you think about things that are pure, just, lovely, honorable, virtuous, praiseworthy, and of good report.

Tweetable: Are your thoughts God's thoughts?

Prayer: Father, our desire is to honor You with our thoughts and actions.

Tell us how you control negative thoughts. 

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