"I got ramblinI got ramblin on my mind
I got ramblin
I got ramblin all on my mind
Hate to leave you my baby
but you treats me so unkind
I got mean things
I got mean things all on my mind
Little girl, Little girl
I got mean things all on my mind
Hate to leave you here babe
but you treats me so unkind."
Robert Johnson
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ 2 Corinthians 10:5
Often the church views sin as an act that we commit. While this notion is correct, I have rarely heard a sermon preached on the seriousness of sin and its root. I've heard what I should or shouldn't do, but behavior modification is not the purpose of the Gospel and certainly doesn't lead to a deeper understanding and love for Christ. All sin starts in the mind and sin acted out is sin that the mind has reconciled to the body and gives it permission to carry out. How many times do we go through the day and think heinous thoughts? Thoughts that we would never dream of acting out, but thoughts that consume our mind nonetheless and that without the grace of God, we would be completely capable of committing. Moreover, how many times do we go through the day and allow our minds to ramble about whatever it is that we have to do that day or any other trivial pursuit? Jesus tells us to "love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." We are not to be dullards. God gave us a mind and it expects us to use it. When I was growing up, I believed that sin was limited to things that I did, so it didn't matter that I thought negative thoughts about a person or allowed temptation to entertain me in my mind. As I grew older and came to know the Lord on a more personal level, I understood that our mind will betray us and lead us to destruction if we allow it to. But now, after all my trials, I've come to know what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 10:5. We, as the bride of Christ, are to take EVERY THOUGHT captive and to make it OBEDIENT TO CHRIST. So whether temptation greets you like a naughty friend or you're thinking about what to do this weekend or you are working, let every thought be made obedient to Christ, lest you allow yourself to toe the line of sin and fall away. This is what it means to have the mind of Christ.
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I've heard (and do not know how accurate this is) that in Judaism, the action is the sin, not the thought. Thus, that is why Jesus made a point of camparing hate with murder and lust with adultery. There have been times when I wanted to think about something, although I knew I wouldn't actually even want to do it. However, the fear that thinking about it would make me comfortable enough to go through with it stops me.
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