If Anything is Good...

If anything is good, think on such things. Is that what we do? Is that where our thoughts dwell? Personally I find this a huge challenge, so often my thoughts meander away from what is good towards what is not. A stray thought entices the mind to linger there, and so that stray thought grows, gnawing away at the determination not to think on such, until it is a stray thought no longer but has engulfed everything.

Why is it that a simple thought of something evil becomes a snare that so easily entangles whilst one must constantly strive to think on something good? I suspect that this difference reflects the fallen nature of humanity, that all have fallen short. That it is not in our strength or human nature to be truly good. Rather it is only possible to be good, to be holy, by putting off our old self and taking on a new nature, given as a gift. Putting on white robes cleansed through the blood of the paschal lamb and seeking after a new name engraved upon a white stone; a new name to express our new true humanity, to accompany the new song of the heart that we will sing. A transformation that is not completed when we dedicate ourselves to follow God, but rather a process that starts there. When it is finished, on that day, it will not be evil that entangles but rather it will be good that ensnares, and ensnares so thoroughly that there is not room for any other thought, and evil will have no foothold.