“Therefore take no thought, saying, What we shall eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” Matthew 6:31
Many people don’t believe they can control their thoughts. But, if that were true, then Jesus would have never told us that we have a choice concerning our thoughts. If we had no choice over our thoughts it would have been unjust for Jesus to tell us what thoughts not to take. The thoughts Jesus talked about in Matthew 6:25; 28; 31 & 34, are thoughts that lead us to worry, fret and anxiety. These are thoughts that keep our minds occupied with what we DON’T have rather than what we DO have.
If we look for a moment into the words Jesus used in this verse, it’s very telling. The word take is the Greek word, merimnao. It means to be troubled, to be anxious, to be fretful; or to be worried about something. It has to do with a progression of thought that is already in process. We would perceive these thoughts as predetermined, or preconceived expectations of a negative outcome. In other words, Jesus was addressing negative mind-sets.
But notice what Jesus said about HOW we take these thoughts of anxiety, worry and fretting. When do we adopt these thoughts as our personal reality? We adopt them when we speak those worries and fears with our own mouth. We have a moment by moment opportunity to take God’s thoughts of faith, life, power, blessing, health, strength, deliverance and light, by speaking those thoughts! The power of death and life are in the authority of our own tongues (Pr. 18:21)! Why would we choose to speak worry and fear?
Take a brief inventory of your words. Have you been adopting God’s thoughts toward you? Or, have you been adopting the enemy’s thoughts of fear?
I know people have their opinions about the power of words, but the Bible should be our ultimate authority! Even our very salvation was established by our words when we confessed our faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9)! That’s when we became children of the most high God and He became our very own Father. Let’s take His thoughts and begin to frame our world with the power of life-filled words as we continue to speak the thoughts our Father has toward us!
With Love,
Pastor Tom