Many of us who have been brought up in church or those of us who may have later on in life got involved in church activities or Christian ministries or even gotten interested in studying the Bible will no doubt have heard the above title spoken freely. Most will quote this in the KJV language, which is, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Of course our modern English would be, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.”
Many times when we hear that verse quoted, me may have some discomfort. It is probably 100% of human beings, who have had some “bad” thoughts, show up in the mind, which is an intricate part of the heart of man.
There are many things that can trigger a thought to come into the mind. Billboards, magazines, TV, other people talking etc or just while we are alone and thinking can cause one to have thoughts run through our mind and heart. Many times those are “good” thoughts but sometimes those thoughts may be “bad” thoughts.
We cannot effectively control thoughts that come into our mind; however what we chose to do with those thoughts is within the realm of our will, which is part of our heart. On preacher explained it like this. You cannot stop a bird from flying over your head but if a bird starts building a nest in your hair you can do something about that!
Many of us have had thoughts come into our mind and then felt really condemned for having those thoughts. How could I be thinking that? Then we may recall the title of this writing and then think, “I must be a bad person for thinking that thought!” We know that the Bible says, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”
We may even recall other scriptures that seem to enforce that feeling that comes into our heart.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
In Prov 6:16 we find these six things that the LORD hates: oh yeah, seven are an abomination unto him and one found in verse 18 concerns the heart.
Prov 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
We would not want to go into any confessions of little or huge wicked imaginations that we have all thought and done and there are many levels that can be imagined in the heart. Well, is that really who we are? According to the verse we hear quoted, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” we could get down on our self with a little condemnation.
Well, guess what! We can rest easy because there is not a verse in the Bible that states, “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” There is something similar but not that! Look at Proverbs 23 and we will see where this apparently comes from. We will leave this in context and not change the words.
Prov 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
Wow, have we been mislead! Sometime in the past, someone took one third of one verse and took out the word “he” and added “a man,” which changed the whole meaning of this scripture passage. It seems that every one has been following that person ever since, because that is the way this verse is misquoted by people today almost 100% of the time.
Left in context, this is talking about one man, a ruler, and a he that has evil plans to entice another man into his evil plan. The ruler sets before this man deceitful meat with plans to bribe him with riches if he continues into the trap of the ruler and his heart is set for evil for the other man..
This “he” is a personal pronoun of one individual the ruler. It is clear that as “he” is thinking in “his heart” so “he” is referring to the wicked ruler not every man on earth. How simple is that?
How easy it is for us to be led into misunderstanding by just listening to our favorite speakers and not doing our own study to see if what they are saying is correct according to the scriptures.
We know that our thought process is very important in our spiritual walk. Paul expresses that in his writings in 2nd Corinthians 10.
2 Cor 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
It is highly important as to which thoughts we allow to come into our mind and heart and especially the thoughts we chose to allow to remain there.
Isa 26:2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation, which keepeth the truth may enter in.
3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Grace and Peace multiplied in the name of Jesus.
Compiled by Jerry Thomas 09/30/2024
All scripture references are (KJV) unless otherwise denoted.
Feel free to share any of jtministries post with anyone who might benefit from them.
ความคิดเห็น