Co 10:3-5 NASB – For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. [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.
My daughter sent me a text this morning with this picture of my youngest grandson, 2 -year-old Charlie, holding one of their chickens. Attached to the image were these words, poor chicken! Oh, I had a good laugh- poor chicken, indeed! I guess the good news is that Charlie isn’t afraid of the chickens. I can just see him sneaking up behind the completely unaware chicken, most likely minding her own business, finding bugs and worms, and then being taken completely captive by a 2-year old toddler. And I can imagine Charlie holding the helpless chicken in toddler captivity. As soon as Charlie’s mother makes him let go of one chicken, he is on to the next. The boy loves his chickens. But the captive chicken may not hold the same enthusiasm.
Scripture tells us that the way to live life victoriously as a believer is to take every thought captive. That means that when thoughts come into our minds, we need to discern the origin of the thought. We need to say, yes; this thought is a good one, one that builds up or no, this thought is destructive in my walk with Jesus. At that very moment, we must be able to access the thought’s value and be disciplined enough to bring any wrong thinking into captivity.
Sadly, so many of us don’t realize the freedom that comes when we take our thoughts captive. It doesn’t seem like captivity brings freedom, but it can, and it does for the believer desiring to walk in line with the Spirit.
Just like Charlie took the chicken captive, we must learn to take our thoughts captive. We must be on the look-out for any thought that needs to be captured and restrained, and then we must act with Holy Spirit powered reckless abandon, doing all we can to contain the thought and then dispose of it.
“I have one desire now – to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.”
― Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor
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Anne Farnum 