“We all woke up this morning and we had with it the amazing return of our conscious mind. We recovered minds with a complete sense of self and a complete sense of our own existence—yet we hardly ever pause to consider this wonder.” ~ Antonio Damasio
Studies Cognitive Neuroscience @ University of Southern California
The National Science Foundation estimates that humans have between 12-50K thoughts per day, and other estimates, not easily cited go to the high extreme of 80K thoughts per day. If we break this number down to the minute of a 24-hour day, we would come up with 8-56 thoughts a minute, the high side being almost one thought per second.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like I have that many thoughts a minute, and if I weren’t careful, I might think myself a bit slow.
Makes me think of the statement, “When God gave out Brains. I thought he said trains, and I missed mine.”
The trick, however, is to understand that this range of estimated thought that I just shared with you is a range of ALL thought, both conscious and unconscious.
Based on an article I read at “beinghuman.com”, they claim that 98% of all thought is actually UNCONSCIOUS thought, (I’m now quoting)... “things like keeping your heart beating, digesting food, processing sensory input, controlling and coordinating muscle action, and much more.”
Their reference was a book, entitled, “The Mind's Past,” by Michæl S. Gazzaniga
So, only about 2% of our thoughts are conscious, which also excludes much of what happens in the mind when sleeping. So, for the sake of today’s instruction, if we assume an average of 8 hours of sleep a day, ignoring dreams as potential conscious thought, the math provides the following estimate on CONSCIOUS thought over the remainder of the day, or 16 hours:
13-83 conscious thoughts an hour, the cited study from the National Science Foundation revealing 13-52/hour.
That’s between 1-6 conscious thoughts every 4.5 minutes!
For the sake of today’s presentation, let’s think even more slowly than the slowest estimate and round DOWN to having only ONE conscious thought every FIVE minutes, or 20 thoughts/hour.
Not all conscious thought enters the realm of moral judgments, of course. We decide what to wear or eat, when to go to bed, to pay bills, do the math for properly paying those bills, and the list goes on and on. But some measure of those thoughts, however, does enter that of morality. These thoughts we may keep to ourselves, or they may lead to words, or they may lead to actions. It’s this realm of conscious thought that is of special importance to today’s discussion.
Turn to Proverbs, chapter 23...
Pro 23:6 Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;
Pro 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, But his heart is not with you.
The key phrase I want for you to take hold of at this moment is, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” It doesn’t matter what he appears to be. It matters what he really is.
Turn to the book of Psalms, Psalm, chapter 10...
Psa 10:4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.
Here we are offered a proof that the wicked do not seek God, not even having God in their conscious thoughts.
I will read for you Jeremiah 17:9-10, a scripture familiar to most of us...
Jer 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Jer 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
We see here the state of the heart of mankind, and we see that from these thoughts come actions.
In Genesis...
Gen 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And now, Matthew...
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
So, in Jeremiah we find a statement describing the state of conscious thought of humanity, then in Genesis we see a statement about the state of mind of mankind before the Lord sent the great flood on the earth, and we find that Jesus in Matthew informs us that the state of the mind of man will be the same when He returns.
So the conscious thought of man is naturally drawn to poor moral judgments, leading to poor choices in word and in deed.
THAT’S OUR NATURE, FOLKS. THE CARDS SEEM STACKED AGAINST US! AND, THAT’S WHAT GOD HAS TO WORK WITH.
BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT GOD IS WORKING WITH US TO CHANGE OUR EVIL HEARTS.
Turn to James...
Jas 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This statement reveals to us that we ARE, NOT, HELPLESS, in the realm of managing or governing our conscious thought. We DO have a choice.
David advised his son, Solomon, concerning this very thing...
1Ch 28:9 "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
And it’s in these passages of James and First Chronicles we find our greatest advantage. SEEK GOD! Thousands upon thousands of books have been written to offer advice on success and self-fulfillment, but many of these books ignore the essential ingredient for true happiness, which is to to SEEK GOD. It makes me think of Herbert Armstrong’s book, “The Seven Laws of Success.” He goes through and explains six key qualities needed for success in this life:
Fix the Right Goal
Education or Preparation
Good Health
DRIVE!
Resourcefulness
Perseverance
He then goes on to explain how many have achieved their goals, made money, attained status, and enjoyed passing pleasures, yet, because they did not know about that seventh law, their lives were empty. What was that seventh law, according to Mr. Armstrong?
Having contact with, and the guidance and continuous help of GOD!
We find again this connection in Philippians, and it’s my GO TO passage for conscious thought.
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Php 4:5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Php 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving (haploid cell, 40-100M), let your requests be made known to God;
Php 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Php 4:8 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.
So, why would I bring up the statistics on conscious thought, today? How does this factoid apply to today’s instruction?
I’ve provided it for our encouragement as I bring this to a close.
Each of us has AT LEAST 320 opportunities every single day of our life to grasp tightly righteous thought, which leads to righteous action, overcoming at the speed of thought!!! So, I will end with a question, and I can reserve a good number of those 320 thoughts to ask myself this question as a constant reminder.
What will I do with my next conscious thought?
