My Thoughts, or Yours?

1 Kings 12:26

Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David’.

If there’s one movie that kept us talking for days after watching it, it’s the Leonardo DiCaprio’s Inception. It was about a man with the expertise of extracting an information from someone via dream state. Then came this chaiman from Geisha (haha!), now a client, asking him to implant an information instead. A traumatic  past haunts Jack (from Titanic of course :>) in this pursuit, for it was because of an implanted suicide idea that he lost his confused-with-reality wife. Good thing, Juno was there to walk with him for a closure with Edith Piaf, leading to the successful implant in the scarecrow’s mind, leading to his homecoming with Alfred (from Batman again :>). Oh did I tangle your thoughts?  

Re-reading the closing verses of this chapter, I was caught up with these words, ‘Jeroboam thought to himself’. More translations wrote ‘He said in his heart’.  Uhm,  so was it the mind or the heart? Lexicon explained that the heart is also used very widely for the feelings, the will, even the intellect. Our whole being then. My picture of Jeroboam here is how us girls do self-talk and resolve issues with the mirror. The problem is, the Bible warns us that the heart is deceitful and that its every inclination is evil, which leads us to the obvious conclusion: it will lead us to a God-displeasing act! For Jeroboam, it’s what caused his infamous leading Israel to sin: he carved two golden calves, built shrines, appointed unlawful priests, instituted a festival of his choosing, and went up to the altar to personally make offerings. All birthed from his thoughts, his idea-concepts, his personal preferences.  Did he make inquiries? Yes, but with likeminded peers I guess :<  It was just one seed idea: a replica of Jerusalem worship. He could have first consulted his Scepter-Giver, the God, whom he ought to honor with this project. I’m sure he wasn’t thinking of surprising God.  But because Jeroboam acted independently from God’s thoughts, from His heart, from His will, it’s not surprising He did not grace those detestable high places with His holiness.

What projects are we working on lately? Are those in consultation with God’s word or we just thought it’s a good, big thing to be busy with? Is it for our advancement? To make us wealthier? More comfortable? Ey, nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with cruising unless Niniveh is on the other side. Nothing wrong with preparing great meals for thirteen plus men unless Jesus said it’s better to sit down and listen. We may have been given free will, but unless it submits to the Lordship of Christ, we are in bondage to the enemy. True freedom is when we’re free from sin. It’s in living God’s Word, walking His ways, beating His heart. It’s taking captive our E-V-E-R-Y thought, desires, plans, and our being and make it obedient to Christ.  His thoughts are definitely higher than ours. He sees eternity past and future. He created all and sustains everything.  Isn’t  it but wiser to let Him do the thinking? Unless you have a better idea?  My thoughts exactly (*wink :>)