course of time, he did something to displease his king, and was ordered for punishment to be bound by chains in the public place. This didn’t bother him for he laughed within himself with scorn. He knew when they had left he would simply go through the chains, finding the al ways available weak link to be bro ken and then set himself free. After he had been fastened securely and the soldiers had gone, he started shifting through the chains. The first time he had no concern, but as he examined them a second time he was brought to the stark realization that very cleverly they had bound him with his own chains, the ones he himself had made so perfectly. So it is with thoughts that are not true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. We may think we can escape them, but soon we realize we As we traveled in the lands of the Bible last summer, we noticed on the door of one of the old Greek tem ples several words carefully in scribed which in English meant, “The wealth of the mind is the only true wealth.” That’s quite a state ment. No one can rob you of pure and holy thoughts. How wealthy are you? “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Paul positively asserts, “If there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Now those two letters “if” refer to a fulfilled condition and mean rather, “since there is virtue and since there is praise, think on these things.” We need to understand that it is not enough simply to clean up our minds, as some religious systems or After all is said and done we soon find out that in actuality, more is said than being done. have been bound by them in a death like grip.
code of ethics would tell us. It’s not just being rid of the negative. Rath er, your mind must dwell upon the things God has ordained that it should feast upon. Thoughts are tremendous forces with which we have to reckon. We think no one is looking. We have the idea that no one sees, no one hears. But God does. Dr. Elmer Gates, a noted physician, conducted an ex periment sometime ago which was written up in th e publ i ca t ion known as “ The Chemi s t r y of Thought.” In this, he points out how that the perspiration of an individ ual, as well as his nerves, changes with all of the thoughts that go through his mind. A test tube filled with a certain chemical solution was passed in front of the patient’s mouth. If the individual was angry, the solution would turn brown. Then, by injecting this fluid into an ani mal, the poor creature became irri table, excitable, and difficult to deal with. Sorrow caused the solution to turn grey. Remorse brought it to a pinkish color. Jealousy is so volatile that if it should be injected into a guinea pig, the animal would die. Dr. Gates suggests that hatred is by far the worst. He points out that one hour of hatred can build up enough poison which under the proper cul ture, if injected into people, would have sufficient potency to kill 80 in dividuals. You know, the law of God is writ ten not only in this Book, the Bible, but also it is written in our bodies so clearly. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” As the Psalmist rightly asked, “For who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in the holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.” The Apostle Paul, although he was writing this epistle from a cold, dark, depressing prison, knew the se cret of real escape. I wonder if some times you feel you are in prison. It 23
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