A Pebble in My Shoe

In July, a friend and I challenged each other to make a concerted effort to try and take every thought captive as Paul says we should do in 2 Corinthians 10:5. Specifically, he says, "We should 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."

Although our week-long challenge has been over for a while, she and I continue to learn about the importance of this Biblical admonition. Here is an email my friend sent earlier this week illustrating the importance of taking every thought captive.

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"I wanted to share something with you that has to do with taking every thought captive.  As I was walking this morning, a tiny, tiny pebble popped into my shoe.  I could have stopped walking for a moment and fished out the pebble without taking off my shoe.  However, I decided that the pebble was small enough not to be a problem.  

"Within seconds, however, the pebble had moved down my ankle bone and was making itself known with a tiny little pain.  I kept walking, and, sure enough, the pebble found its way to the bottom of my foot, so that with every step I experienced a sharp pain.  Still, though, I wouldn’t stop to remove it.  

"A few seconds later the pebble jiggled around and landed where I could not feel it.  Ahh, I thought, now I can finish my walk without that little pain.  However, you guessed it, the pebble moved back to the spot that caused me pain.  Finally I stopped, sat down on the curb, removed my shoe, removed the pebble, put on my shoe, and resumed my walk.  

"I was reminded of those thoughts that I should take captive.  Those thoughts need to be taken care of right away.  I need to be aware of them and then stop and remove them, even if I have to quit walking.  Otherwise, I will experience sharp little pains that make my walk painful."

A beautiful illustration about how not taking every thought captive can hinder our walk with God. 

Next week I'll share some of the insights I have been gleaning from the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit about those sinful thoughts that I am trying to learn to halt in their tracks.