As a Man Thinketh
Prov. 23: 7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he...
An old story goes that in the early days of computers a company developed a large computer which they claimed could answer any question that one might ask. People came from all over and fed all kinds of questions to the computer and it answered all of them correctly. Then one man came and asked a simple question. The computer hummed and buzzed whined and sputtered for a long while, getting hotter and hotter and making more and more noise until it spouted fire and stopped working. People were amazed. “What did you ask it?” they asked the man. He replied, “All I asked it was ‘why?’”
Crazy story, but it is one of the questions most frequently asked. I am not talking today about philosophy and the meaning of life and all that big stuff. I am talking about the reasons we do things. The Bible makes it clear that not only what we do is important, but more so, why we do it. Motives are important, because they indicate how we think and act. Solomon speaks of the man who says “eat and drink”, in other words, “I wish you well” but his heart (mind) is not with you.
Every thought and act is motivated by something, either something good or bad and “every action derives it quality from the motive which prompts it” (MCP 347:2). Some things are easy to do and we do them almost unconsciously. Other things call for us to think and make conscious decisions. What motivates us, what gives us a reason to act, is very important; important because the stronger the motivation the more we find the will to do things, even when they are difficult. It is also important because God will not only judge our actions but the motives for our actions. If we do the right things for the wrong reasons it is as if we did the wrong. People will judge our actions but God will judge the heart, the mind, the motives.
May God help us today not just to do the right, but to do it for the right reasons.
Dear Lord, guide my mind today by Your Holy Spirit that I will seek to do the right things for the right reasons, in Jesus’ name, amen.