Sabbath Thought – Meditate on These Things

(Happy day 35 in our count to Pentecost!)

 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he,” (Proverbs 23:7a).

The verse quoted above is reviewing the actions of someone who has power, authority or riches. We are reminded by Solomon that a public face does not automatically reveal the heart of someone – what they truly think or believe.

That thought also has another application outside of scripture, and that is how we think, and what we think about, has power to shape our life. There is mounting research that shows that our mind believes what we say and what we think is real. That is, our mind shapes our reality – how we view our experiences, our future choices, and even what we might chalk up to random chance. Scientists who study the human mind (those functions of thinking, choosing, creating, memories, emotions, etc.) have come to see that our mind does not know the difference between words and reality. 

How can this be? We tend to think that the primary function of our mind is to take in information from the world around us, to process our experiences, to dispassionately reason, and then to store memories from which we can draw logical conclusions and decisions. This is not the case. There is simply too much “input” from the world around us for our brains to completely process, so the brain “cheats.” It filters out input that doesn’t align with what we are thinking or caring about. You have probably experienced this when you have something on your mind you can suddenly realize that you have driven for quite some time without thinking about navigating your car, or we don’t see something in the background because we are focused on something in the foreground (look up the video “selective attention test”).

If our words and thoughts shape our experiences, then there are some cautions to think about. For example, do not joke negatively about your life because your brain doesn't know it's a joke. If you say you can’t do something, even if you try to do it, your brain won’t cooperate. We also need to consider that life is full of ups and downs, that there are very hard times but there are also beautiful times. If we focus only on the bad stuff, we will not grow. If we focus rather on the lessons to learn then we will grow. As the saying goes: The same boiling water makes an egg hard and a potato soft. 

It is not the circumstances of life that make us who we are but rather what we choose to do with those circumstances. So choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). Use pure words and thoughts (Proverbs 15:26) and words that are fitly spoken (Proverbs 25:11).

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things,” (Philippians 4:8).

I wish you a very meaningful Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

9 May, 2026