Tuesday, March 05, 2013

The Deputy at the Door


One night, I was curled up on the Den couch reading this charming book when Rachel plodded out and said she could not get to sleep and had scary thoughts in her head. We read some of the book together and then Emily appeared as well.

After reading one of the entries, God just provided a moment for me to share with the girls something it took me years and years to learn.

"Do you think it is a sin when a bad or scary thought comes into our head?", I asked. One answered yes and one answered no. Indeed, exactly why it took me so long to get my head around this perhaps?

I tried to explain that the thought itself isn't a sin if I didn't sit there and try to think up something bad or scary. It is only a sin when I say yes to it.

Then, I told them I like to picture it like this ...

There is a Deputy standing at the door of your mind. In my mind, it is Jesus Himself standing there judging the thoughts that come knocking at the door.

When a thought comes up to the door of my mind, the Deputy is there standing guard. He will either say, "Howdy, come on in." or "You're under arrest." The good things are allowed in and the bad things are sent down the hall in handcuffs. It is our choice to say yes or no to the thoughts and then to replace any bad thoughts with things that are true, noble, right, etc.


2 Corinthians 10:5, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

11 comments:

funjani said...

What a beautiful thought, and a wonderful way to explain it.

~katie~ said...

Love how you seized the moment on this teachable opportunity! ♥

I just stumbled upon 2 Cor 10:5 a few days ago. I made a notation in my Bible to work on this ~ thoughts of worry, fear, and anything unpleasing to our Lord. I was reminded of how David {in Psalm 139} shared his struggle with his thoughts and asked for the Lord's help.

Praying Psalm 139:23-24 daily!!

Great post!

Mom said...

What a great picture lesson that is meaningful to your family since Daddy is a law enforcement officer -- love you, Mom

Jenny Lynn said...

Beautiful analogy!

*carrie* said...

Thanks for sharing this, Mo. Good illustration. I often think of it as disciplining my mind (Taking every thought captive!!) Had some practice in this last night as I had a hard time shutting my mind off to the disappointing events I'd just encountered. Love you!

angie said...

That is a very tangible way to explain that to your girls. It also helps that their father is in that profession.
If you tell me that you found that book at the library, I will officially have library envy!

Jen N said...

Thank you for this beautifully simple word picture! I plan to share it with my girls as well.

Sara said...

What a great analogy, Monica! Very helpful even to us adults!

Anonymous said...

Wow, how profound! Thanks for sharing!

Jordin said...

I love this, Monica! Thank you so much for sharing.

Lisar said...

What a wonderful and helpful example...not only to the young ones, but to us adults too, who more often than we like entertain thoughts that are unhelpful and lead to things such as self pity etc. Thanks so much...this is exactly what I need at this current time...Bless you...