Lux Lucet

Most of us have probably hear, and maybe even used, the saying “you are what you eat.” From a strictly physical standpoint, it would seem hard to argue with this. Our bodies are composed of nutrients we take in.

But there is another, more profound way of defining our identity. One that goes beyond the physical, touching on who we really are. And on the authority of the Word of God it is this: You are what you think. Proverbs 23:7 puts it this way, “For as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he.”

And it is for this reason that God is supremely concerned with the thoughts of our heart, the things we believe, the things we say.

In fact, our words and thoughts are of such great importance to God that our eternal destiny depends on them. Consider what Christ had to say about the importance of words.

Either made the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matthew 12:33-36).

Many of us, when we encounter the word “fruit” in the New Testament tend to think of it in terms of works. But here, Jesus defines “fruit” as the words men speak. That is to say, their fruit is their doctrine.

Likewise, the Author of Hebrews emphasizing God’s concern with our inner thoughts, wrote

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:12-13).

Worth noting in this passage is the use of the term “heart.” It is common in our day to speak of the heart and the mind as if they were two separate things. The mind is rational, cold and of lesser importance. The heart, on the other hand, is emotional, warm and of greater value.

But as Gordon Clark has pointed out, the Bible draws no contrast between the heart and the mind. In the Scripture, we are said to think with our hearts. Consider the passages we’ve looked at so far “As [a man] thinks in his heart”, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” and “the word of God…is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The heart thinks and discerns in these passages. That is to say, the heart is intellectual, not emotional. The heart is the mind.

Clark put it this way, “When a popular preacher contrasts the head and the heart, meaning that the heart is something other than the intellect, he is distorting Scripture and thinks falsehoods in his heart (The Johannine Logos, 114).

It should be pointed out that God is not concerned merely with the words we speak in the open. The words we verbalize are important. But just as important are our secret thoughts, the meditations of our inner man which others do not know.

But while other men cannot know our thoughts, God does. Several examples could be cited to prove this, but one will suffice for our purposes. When Jesus forgave the sins of a paralytic, Scripture tells us,

And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” (Matthew 9:3-4).

Note well, Jesus says of the scribes that they think – thinking is an act of intellection, not feeling or emotion – in their hearts, identifying the heart and the mind.

But beyond that, as God Jesus knew the thoughts of the scribes even though they did not give voice to them.

One implication of this passage is that there is no escape from the judgment of God.

We can see this principle at work even in this world. Due to the efforts of Wikileaks and other organizations, the recently concluded presidential campaign saw the exposure of vast troves of emails that were never intended for public consumption.

Big-time political operatives, well-known reports and even high party officials had their words and deeds exposed for all the world to see. What they thought was said in secret was made known to the whole world.

As a friend of mine put it, if the cloud never forgets, how much greater is the judgment of God?

You are what you think. On the authority of the Word of God, the thoughts and intents of our hearts, whether spoken publically or not, either will justify or condemn us on the last day.

With that in mind, let us, as God’s people, seek to focus the thoughts of our hearts on what is pleasing to him. And we are not left to guess as to what those are. As the Apostle Paul enjoined the Philippians, “[W]hatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – mediate on these things.”