Cartoon Caption Box

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

One little thing, one really big thing, stands out in this passage – fulling the lusts of the mind. We could go down each of our own mile long list of how we outwardly fulfill the lusts of the flesh. It would be countless pursuits of stuff and pursuits that we thought would bring happiness and fulfillment. We likely have found it but temporal for a moment, and moved on to the next pursuit that grabbed our attention, but our thought life is invisible, and likely hidden sins from everyone except God. My old pastor put it something like this, “If I knew what you were thinking I wouldn’t talk to you, and if you know what I was thinking you wouldn’t listen to me.” What if we all walked around with the cartoon caption box above our heads revealing our true thoughts to others? Sin would abound on a level we cannot imagine, if our inner thoughts were not hidden any longer.

Paul was writing of our life before Christ, of how carnally we fulfilled our sinful desires outwardly and inwardly. I look back at my life before Him and even justified the inward sins as long as they never produced an outward action. There is not a man alive who has not looked at another woman with inward lust, but the Bible says that thought is as guilty as the action. Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. How do we men battle the lusts of our minds in the such a sexual exploited society where it abounds before us every day? We must prepare ourselves by starting each day with God in prayer and his Word. This is a daily battle all men face, even the pastors you see every Sunday. This is a battle that requires daily spiritual nourishment and repentance.

Paul wrote in Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The renewing of your mind, is the daily act of the pursuit of purity and holiness worked out by the sanctification process of the Holy Spirit living inside of you. The pursuit of God by your time spent seeking him, is how the Spirit steers you from sins, even the hidden ones. This is a continual battle, one that requires continual preparation; daily time with God in prayer, repentance, and his Word. God knows our heart, knows our mind, and thankfully we don’t have the cartoon caption box to let everyone else inside our heads.