In his book How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit, A.W. Tozer writes this pretty surprising sentence:
To God, our thoughts are things.
That sentence stopped me when I read it. Does it grab you?
I think most of us assume the opposite, that our thoughts are not things — they are just thoughts. So they assume less importance than “actual” things. It’s not like I said it. I just thought it. It’s not like I did it. I just thought it.
But Tozer (as is his way) is coming at us in this area, and directly contradicting that way of thinking. Notice where he goes with it:
To God, our thoughts are things. Our thoughts are the decorations inside the sanctuary where we live. If our thoughts are purified by the blood of Christ, we are living in a clean room no matter if we are wearing overalls covered with grease. Your thoughts pretty much decide the mood and weather and climate inside your heart, and God considers your thoughts as part of you.
There you go. God considers your thoughts as part of you. He continues:
Thoughts of peace, thoughts of pity, thoughts of charity, thoughts of God, thoughts of the Son of God — these are pure things, good things and high things. Therefore, if you would cultivate the Spirit’s acquaintance, you must get hold of your thoughts and not allow your mind to be a wilderness in which every kind of unclean beast roams and bird flies. You must have a clean heart.
What gold. It’s been rolling around in my head since I read it again a few days ago. “Don’t allow your mind to be a wilderness. The Holy Spirit has to live with your thoughts. What are you making him live with?”
In the book, this passage is under the section heading “Make Your Thoughts a Clean Sanctuary.”
I think that’s a great piece of counsel.