On Wednesday evenings, we have been studying people in scripture who have encounters with God. Each week we have talked about what we can learn about God through those encounters. In those stories, we can also see common issues that people have. In the stories we have covered so far, it seems that people struggle understanding themselves and the situations they face in the same way that God does. Because of how they perceive their abilities or the obstacles they face, they tend to overthink which leads to foolish actions.

 

In his book, Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking, Jon Acuff explains that our false narratives about ourselves become like a soundtrack to our lives guiding us in the wrong direction. He encourages creating a new soundtrack. His begins this way, “I choose my thoughts. I know that doing my best starts with thinking my best. These thoughts will set the course for my actions.”

 

That concept of thoughts relating to actions is not new with Acuff. It is the same thing that Paul talked about in Philippians 2 when He said to have the same mind as Jesus, and it is the way that Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed. Jesus calls people blessed when their experiences do not sound at all like blessings. He teaches us that we can change how we think about things and about ourselves, and as a result we can live the kind of life He describes in the rest of the sermon. Doing right begins with thinking right. We truly are blessed!

 

Brian