“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.” Psalm 139:1-2

In Luke 6, Jesus is in the synagogue on the sabbath day and there is a man there with a withered hand.  The Scribes and Pharisees were watching closely to see what Jesus would do.  They were looking for a chance to accuse Him if He healed the man, contrary to the laws of the Sabbath.  What they did not realize was that He knew their thoughts and was ready for them with a question of whether it was right to do good or evil on the Sabbath.  Then He proceeded to heal the man and his enemies had to keep quiet.

David in this Psalm is acknowledging the fact that the Lord knows everything about us, even what we are thinking.  Just as Jesus knew the thoughts of the people He met every day during His ministry here on earth, He knows our thoughts and understands everything that we are going through.

Sometimes our thoughts run away with us, and if we are not careful, we find ourselves imagining all sorts of things. Often, we cause ourselves a lot of worry and frustration simply because we let our thoughts run wild.  Thoughts lead to actions, and we find ourselves doing things that we know are not pleasing to the Lord. This can affect all areas of our life.  In order to change our life, we need to change our thought patterns.

Think about this scenario: your teenage son has taken your car for the first time and gone to visit a friend.  You hear a siren, and immediately you begin to think of all the things that could happen to your son.  Before you know it, you are really stressed and expecting to hear some bad news.  Thankfully, you feel that little nudge from the Lord and you call your son’s name in prayer, asking the Lord to protect him.  Peace settles down in your heart, and you can go about your day, trusting.  When you hear the door open and your child walks in, laughing and happy you thank God for being there for you.

We all have times when our thoughts are not what they should be, but we must learn to guard our thoughts, and when they are not headed in the right direction, we need to call on the Lord and ask Him to guide our thoughts in the way they should go.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank you that you know us better than we know ourselves, and that you are aware of our thoughts.  We ask that you direct our thoughts today, may they be pleasing to you.

Devotion by Anne Johnston

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