Something To Dream On

It’s past my bedtime, and when I’ve finished writing this, I plan to go to bed. As I lie in bed waiting to drift off to sleep, I am confident that I will do exactly what all of you do: I will think.

During the night I’ll probably wake up, just as most of you do. And from the time I wake up until the time I go back to sleep, I will do what all of you will do: I will think.

Depending on how little noise we allow into our lives, we may easily have hours each day in which to think. Washing dishes, driving the car, standing in line, half listening to the radio, or taking a shower, we’re thinking. The question is not if we’ll think, the question is what we’ll think.

We’ve probably all heard the Apostle Paul’s famous "think on these things" passage. Whatever is lovely, pure, true, etc. Have you ever really gauged your thoughts or compared what you’re thinking about to that list? It is so easy to fill our minds with suspicions, criticisms, completely unrealistic expectations, arguments, and blatant accusations. What is worse, when we think negative thoughts, we are just as likely as not to excuse ourselves, rationalizing that our thoughts are at least true.

But was Paul suggesting that it’s okay to think about something that is true, but not lovely? Or something that is lovely, but not true? (Is it even possibly for something to be truly one without being the other?) Or was he saying that our success was dependent on thinking about things that pass every part of the "think on these things" test?

If there is one group of thoughts that fits every part of the bill, it is the conglomeration of promises that God has made to us. He’s promised me that He’ll give me the desires of my heart—every desire of my heart—if I will wait for Him. If that isn’t a good thing to think on, then I don’t know what is! I could list a whole lot of things that He’s promised me, but I won’t bother, because that isn’t my point. My point is that God has a great future for every one of us, and He wants us to get busy thinking about it!

What could I possibly gain by lying in bed, cataloging my faults—or your faults—or the faults of the President of the United States? What benefit is there to lying in bed, worrying about what I will do if some particular event takes place? Does it help to lie there and complain about what I didn’t get today, or what I have to do tomorrow? Talk about some singularly pointless thought patterns!

So I intend to lie in bed and catalogue God’s promises. And tomorrow while I’m jogging and showering and doing housework, I intend to do the same. As I drift off to sleep, I want something good to dream on.

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