Senior Living

Whether or not you enlist to fight, there is a war going on for control of your mind. If you are not aware of that, you are probably losing the battle. God says in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Where do evil thoughts come from? Ultimately they come from the devil. But if your mind has just gone the way of the natural man all your life, the evil thoughts just come naturally. And evil thoughts can lead to evil deeds. Last week, I was driving and changed lanes in front of a truck I didn’t see coming up. The driver blew his horn. I put my hand up to say, “I’m sorry,” and he gave me the finger.OK, I deserved the horn. But that guy just lost a fight for the control of his mind, and the devil won. That is a rather mild illustration. The same thing happens when an abusive person responds to anger with a fist. Satan is the enemy, and we need major help in fighting him. We need someone who has already won the war against the devil to be our Commander in Chief. That someone is Jesus Christ. He really understands the battleground of the mind. He said that if a man looks upon a woman with lust, he has committed adultery in his thoughts and lost another battle. God wants you to be victorious over the evil that tries to brainwash you into thinking you don’t have a problem with your thought life. The apostle Paul said, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

Next Week: Praying for Logan

Dan Williams is the senior adult pastor at Lexington Baptist Church.