Take thoughts captive

2 Samuel 11:2-4 (NIV)

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her.

This is the beginning of King David’s affair with Bathsheba that eventually led King David to place Bathsheba’s husband Uriah on the front battle lines where he would be killed. The affair started with a look of desire and became an obsession David could not release himself from.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” In other words we are to take our thoughts captive, examine our motives and sift through our captive thoughts to understand if we are disobeying Christ and fighting against God.

David did not even hesitate in his thoughts to take Bathsheba as his mistress. Not once did David wonder is this going against God’s will. His only thoughts were about his desires. He did not capture those thoughts and wrestle with them until he was sure of what he was doing. Instead he followed his desires, which eventually led to the murder Bathsheba’s husband Uriah.

In life we have to be very careful. We face temptations every day that could lead us in a wrong direction. In order not to take the wrong direction we need a plan. The Apostle Paul has given us a start on that plan by telling to examine our thoughts and motives to ensure they align with God’s plan for our lives.

Maybe there is an area of your life you are battling. Take captive every thought and make them obedient to Christ. If we don’t hold our thoughts captive we may find our thoughts holding us captive.