Guard Your Thoughts

It's been nearly two years since I last posted to this blog. It is a little more difficult now because I lost a piece of one of my fingers a year ago and typing isn't quite the same. Oh well, its time to move on.

I felt like expressing some feelings because I got some real hard news this week and it has been weighing heavily on my mind. You know when you're watching a game on Sunday and someone fumbles the ball? It kind of ruins the moment for him and maybe even for you if you're a real fan. Often the team and maybe even that very guy can come back and still win the game. In other words, some fumbles aren't that bad in the big picture. Some fumbles, on the other hand, will change your life forever.

I have this friend that I have known for over thirty years. We haven't been real close for a while because he moved away a few years ago but we enjoyed getting together when he and his family were in town. Back in the eighties, however, he was on the inside. I mean we were tight. We shared pretty personal information, we spent a lot of time together. We were pretty close friends.

This week I get a call from my wife and she says she has just forwarded an email and that I need to read it. Ok, I stop what I'm doing and I read the email. My friend has been arrested for a pretty serious crime. You know, the kind of crime that might ultimately end up with a life sentence. That kind of news can really set you back a bit. I mean I feel sorry for him, I feel sorry for his family, I even feel sorry for myself. I believe that we actually are our brother's keepers and when a brother falls, we own a little bit of the fault.

Ok, here's the warning. Actions with these consequences don't normally happen in just a moment. What does happen in a moment is a thought. If an evil thought pops into your head, it is your responsibility to squash it. Don't feed it. Replace it with something good. If you choose to dwell on the evil it will grow and become stronger and possibly will culminate in an action that can negatively affect your future. A friend who was somewhat wiser than his years once told me that it is kind of like having two imaginary dogs. There is a white one and a black one. A good one and an evil one. The one that you choose to feed will ultimately become the stronger of the two. Choose wisely which dog to feed.

Philippians 4:8 NIV

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.