We have looked briefly at the importance of time and words. Now we will look at the importance of thoughts. We are told that nothing matters but what a person does, but this is not a thought found in Scripture. While it is true that what we do is important, yet what we do springs from and is driven from our thoughts and desires. If we had no other verse but Genesis 6:5 we would know that the thoughts of a human being are very important: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This is a verse to be meditated on again and again. It tells us the very depths of our sin and of our enmity to God. It tells us of how wicked the very best of our actions can be if it is driven by evil thoughts and evil intents of those evil thoughts but also evil intents of outwardly good thoughts.
When people read this verse for the first time, they are shocked. When God set out how wicked men were on the earth, He said “that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Here we go past the thoughts to the intent of the thoughts. People have intents of the heart for the thoughts they think. Even if a person has what would be called good thoughts, that person has good or evil intents for those thoughts. Not only do people have evil intents of the heart, but the Scripture above says every intent of the thoughts of the heart was evil. The unbeliever must know that not only will his or her actions by judged, but his or her thoughts will be judged. But even more than that, the very intent of the thoughts will be judged. When the numbers of sins are counted on the last day, it will be seen that the unbeliever’s thoughts were evil and the intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. The numbers of sins will most likely be beyond what the human mind can conceive. Indeed the heart is desperately sick and who but God alone can know it.
Hebrews 4:12 speaks of how the word of God judges the inner person: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” We don’t like to think of the degree of judgment that we will face, but this text should make us face up to it as well. Genesis 6:5 tells us that every intent of the thoughts of the heart is evil and only evil continually. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the thoughts are judged by the word of God now. This surely tells us that they will also be judged later on as well.
But we have even more verses that show us how important the thoughts are: “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever” (1 Chronicles 28:9). What will it take to seek the Lord? We are told today that if we are nice and do religious things these will please the Lord. We are told today to seek the Lord by doing certain things, but this text tells us that the LORD searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. That is in the context of serving and seeking the Lord. He knows our intent in what we think and in what we do. Our thoughts flow from hearts that either love God or hate Him. We can try to deceive ourselves and flee from this thought itself with other thoughts, but know that God knows the intent of that thought as well. He knows why we want to have certain thoughts and why we want to keep some thoughts out. He knows why we are really seeking Him and if we have love for Him or just want Him to do something for us.
How are we who have such wicked thoughts supposed to return to the Lord? “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). Why must we forsake our thoughts to return to Him? “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8). Until we forsake our unrighteous thoughts and the wicked intents of those thoughts, we will not think the thoughts of God. If we are going to be holy as He is holy, we must have to some degree a likeness in us of the thoughts and the intents of the thoughts of God. Until our thoughts are patterned after His thoughts, our ways will not be patterned after His ways. How vital are the thoughts of a person and how vital it is to have a Savior who died for the sin of our thoughts and yet is now the life of the soul giving us the mind of Christ. How delightful it is to have the Spirit who can open our minds to understand to some degree the thoughts of God. The Gospel is to be preached to the thoughts and is to pierce our intents and thoughts. The Gospel is so thoughtful.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment