Jul. 9, 2022

So What Do You Think?

There is a thought that comes from the old testament book of Proverbs chapter 23 that holds up the idea regarding thoughts. The way I first heard verse seven went like this, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he…” The verse goes on but the following portion of the verse isn’t usually included. 

The writer of Proverbs seems to be offering instruction to perhaps someone who is much younger and maybe less experienced. If you read the passage placing the afore mentioned verse in context with the verse preceding it, the thought perhaps offers some additional insight. In Young’s Literal Translation verse six and seven read,  (6) “Eat not the bread of an evil eye, and have no desire to his dainties, (7) For as he has thought in his soul, so is he, ‘Eat and drink, saith he to thee, And his heart is not with thee.”

As I think about these instructions, I get the idea that the one offering them has already experienced eating the bread of an evil eye. He may have also encountered the results of the inner actions of this one who allows evil thoughts from within the heart to take precedence by dictating the evil within him to cause separation and mistrust. My entry hopefully will hold up for the reader the importance of the understanding of thoughts whether they come from an evil place or from a loving place.

In defining the word “evil” various words are included to try and pinpoint the definition. Here is a list of these terms; morally wrong, harmful, detrimental, suffering, disastrous, immoral and wicked. As I think about the concept of an “evil eye” I get the notion that such a person views life through an evil lens. If this is true, everything viewed is under suspicion. There is absolutely no trust and such a person would likely be on the defensive most of their waking life.

So how important are our thoughts? What I continue to discover about myself has a lot to do with what I think. Sometimes I can get seemingly trapped in thinking a certain way. If these thoughts are negative then these negative thoughts can and will provide negative impacts not only to myself but to those around me as well. If these thoughts are positive then the exact opposite occurs and those around me are aided and assisted as am I. 

I cannot stress enough the importance our thoughts have on ourselves and others. If our thoughts come from a loving place then love is going to be the outcome. But if our thoughts come from an "evil eye" then darkness will prevail and those to whom such an attitude is prevalent will cause such distress and hatred turning to violence and suffering. Once again, please remember that we are beings of reflection. We have free will to reflect love but when bombarded by evil on a daily basis, unless we are aware of the Holy Light that is within us, evil will more than likely be reflected. We are seeing such reflections surfacing in our world more and more. 

We can make a difference because that difference has already been made. Thanks to Jesus the Christ, we can present his obedience to such evil thoughts and in so doing these evil thoughts will be arrested. I encourage us all to take this seriously because our world needs Love’s reflection and we have the loving authority to reflect it!