Wednesday
December 1 Peace Philippians 4:7-9
And the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is
any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these
things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard
and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
****
“As a man thinketh!” he said to me. I
must have had a puzzled look on my face because he said to me, “It’s in the
Bible. As a man thinketh, so is he.*” He was explaining to me how important it
is to think the right way and how the way we think determines the way we
behave. Now that was an idea I could understand! I had often heard and
expressed the same idea myself. The sentiment is not quite the same as, “Look
on the bright side.” It’s more about developing a consistent habit of taking a
balanced and hopeful view that is also grounded in reality. My friend Deacon
Bill Bello would express it this way, “Every challenge is an opportunity.” This
way of looking at life and its challenges… I mean, opportunities, has helped me
greatly. Especially in what we as God’s people throughout the world have
experienced recently, attitude and outlook are so important to embracing the
future with faith, determination, and courage.
It seems like St. Paul was on to much
the same thing in our passage from the Bible for today. “Whatever is true,
honorable, just, etc. … think about these things.” St. Paul encouraged the
Philippian Christians with these words not as a philosophical exercise but to
help them live more hopeful, faithful lives as disciples of Jesus. He was
encouraging them not just to think but to live like Christ in their
communities. After all, he wanted them to follow his example and “do the things
you have learned and received and heard and seen in me” which Paul, in turn,
learned from Jesus, the perfect example.
In this season of Advent, we are
presented again with the opportunity to “thinketh” and reflect on Christ’s
presence in our hearts and spirits and what that means for daily living. For as
we think, so we are more likely to do.
Let us pray. Loving God, in this
season you invite us again to prepare our hearts and minds to recognize your
holy presence in our world, a presence which turns challenges into
opportunities. Remind us that thoughts matter. Help us to keep our thoughts
focused on your love and transformative grace that we might live like Christ
more and more each day and know that you, the God of peace, are with us. In the
precious name of Jesus, Amen.
*For those Bible scholars among you, I
looked up the verse. It’s Proverbs 23:7 which reads, in the New Revised
Standard Version, “like a hair in the throat, so are they.” Hardly the same!
But the footnote says, “meaning of Heb[rew] uncertain.” The translators of the
King James Version opted for “as a man thinketh” to clear up the uncertainty.
Bishop
Paul Egensteiner
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