Thoughts.

What are you thinking right now? How often are you thinking about something? How many unprompted thoughts come to mind every day? The average person is awake for sixteen hours a day. How many impromptu thoughts do you think you think? Scientists and clinicians who have studied the human mind have deduced that the average number of thoughts rises to around 6000 a day. That means anywhere from 6 to 10 different thoughts pop into your brain every minute of the day. 

If these ruminations are positive in nature, they create an electrical impulse in our brain and release good chemicals to make your body feel good and operate well. Thoughts have an impact!

But if the cogitations are negative, they release bad and harmful chemicals into our system that cause not only anxiety but physical distress even to the point of hurting us: ulcers for example. In other words we don’t want bad thoughts. Thoughts have an impact! So how do we deal with them?

In 2 Corinthians 10:5 God gives us a very clear system for how to deal with negative thoughts: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We are to capture it those negative conceptions which nudge themselves into our brain. How do you do this?

One of the methods for capturing these negative thoughts and actually changing them happens this week with Thanksgiving. When we have thankful thoughts, thoughts of gratitude and appreciation, thoughts of praise for kind actions or words extended to us, that creates positive chemicals to be released in our brain. In short, thanksgiving creates a helpful environment in our brain and generates happy chemicals to make us feel good. 

 God knew this all along; this is how He hardwired our minds. And he passed this information onto us with the Bible’s insight and injunction to “give thanks.” Giving thanks is not just a mundane event or action that we are supposed to do because Grandma is waiting for that thank you or an uncle sent us a card for our birthday. Thanksgiving is something that God has ordained for good. Our brain’s networks have been established to use thanksgiving for good and to actually make us healthier, more joy filled. Thanksgiving proclamation makes us more content and more at peace.

So as we enter into this Thanksgiving season, let’s be purposeful about giving thanks. Take every day and start it out with an attitude of gratitude because the God of all grace has developed your mind and body to be blessed through Thanksgiving. May you enjoy those blessings today and always!

Be blessed in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Philippians 4:6-7 “…in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”