Have you ever been dumped? I have. At the time, it broke my young, naive heart. What happened? What did I do? We could go down the path of trying to figure out what was the offense and in most cases that would be healthy. Maybe that will be for another post. Instead of casting blame on either me or her, let’s look at what changed as a result.
Something changed in her. Whether it was something I did, or by revelation that I wasn’t “the one“, it changed the way she thought about me, when at one time she was very much in love with me. As a result of the way she thought about me, it changed how she felt about me, therefore, I was dumped.
Proverbs 23:7 For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Do you get a picture in your head of The Great Thinker statue? If I think good, great, and deep things, will that be my outcome? Will I be a person with depth and have a goodness about me? That still depends on me and what I think. If you’ve ever been in true solitary confinement and left with only your own thoughts, you don’t naturally think good, great and deep things. Lets look at this Proverb again and change our focus.
Notice it reads as a man thinks, not what a man thinks. The enemy can enter in and plant things for us to think about (what I think). The Psychological world calls a portion of this “self talk“. We are not talking about the content of my thoughts. If so, I would be able to think myself free. I cannot do that anymore than I can grab myself by the feet and pick myself up off the floor.
As a man thinks is the process by which I use those thoughts. How we perceive and what we do with those thoughts will shape how we will become. This is the context of 2Cor 10:5 in taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Now the source of my Freedom is not how well I can hold my thoughts together. My Freedom doesn’t depend on my ability, a self-help process, or dare I say, this blog.
My freedom depends on the presence of someone. When Jesus said in Jhn 8:32 You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. The word know here is not pertaining to my cognition. It is the same meaning as used in Genesis when Adam knew his wife Eve and they bore a son. Adam didn’t get out his note pad and jot down all the things he wanted to know about Eve. They had a knowledge of each other that produced life. This is the meaning of know in this passage. Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life (Jhn 14:6). Jesus is telling us that He is the truth and if we know Him and His presence in an intimate way, that is the thing that will set us free. The person of Jesus.
Freedom is not the absence of something. Freedom is the presence of someone.