Thinking God's Thoughts

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars you set in place-what are mere mortals that you should think about them?" Psalm 8:3-4 NLT

Thinking the right thoughts makes the difference between happiness and misery.

I've flown in foggy conditions, watched as the pilot took the plane upward, and marveled at how blue the sky became once we got above the clouds.

 I've also lain on the ground, looked upward, and gazed at the different shapes of the clouds. I've sat on mountaintops and marveled at how far I could see. Peak after peak, rising into the sky in a seemingly endless range. I've also perched on mountaintops when the clouds were so thick I couldn't see the next peak. But I could see clouds dancing between the peaks and carousing through the valleys.

Nature is a wonder. The psalmist thought so too. He had been a shepherd and spent many nights looking at the expanse of stars. No city lights existed to interfere with his view. He saw planets he didn't know existed. When he had finished marveling over God's creation, he thought of how small he appeared. What was he that God would even think about him?

 But God did think a lot of humanity. So much so that He made them a little lower than Himself and the angels. He created them in His image. While we aren't a carbon copy of God, we are more like Him than we are like plants and animals. We can think, reason, feel, and control our actions.

Sin spoiled God's purpose for humanity. He knew we would sin before He created us, but His desire for relationship was worth the risk. He had a further plan. Although Satan would think he had won, God's plan was far superior to Satan's. God would allow His only Son to pay our sin debt.

Accepting what Christ has done for us allows us to think God's thoughts about us and leads to a radical change in our emotional conception of ourselves and others. God's image in us is reborn. God works in our daily affairs to make us more like His Son in actions and words. We are no longer under His condemnation. Christ has set us free. God the Father sees us clothed in His Son's righteousness. He sends His Spirit to continually indwell us so we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

Think the same thoughts about yourself that God thinks. Doing so will change your life's outlook. Prayer: Father, may our thoughts about ourselves mirror Yours and prompt us to be the people You formed us to be.

Martin Wiles Hodges, South Carolina, USA