Luke 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
So what’s filling your mind these days? Plans, worries, disappointments, fears? How about God? We can get so caught up in “doing life,” that we crowd out the most important perspective in life.
Make Room for Daddy was a television sitcom that ran in the 1950’s. It starred Danny Thomas as a nightclub entertainer trying to juggle time between work and family, his children often experiencing the short end. I don’t remember much about the show, but the title recently surfaced in my thoughts.
As long as we focus on our agenda, the less room we have for, or even recognize God’s—the Father who paid an inestimable price to make room for us as his children. If we’re experiencing more anxiety than peace, more bitterness than love, more disappointment than hope, maybe we’re not filling our minds with the right stuff. Maybe we’re not “making room for Daddy.”
Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:8 to fill our minds with God’s perspective. With things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and admirable. Because whatever fills our minds inevitably becomes the ingredients of what we do and of who we become. Novelist John Steinbeck once said, “A man’s writing is himself. A kind man writes kindly. A mean man writes meanly.” So those who extend grace to others have made room for God’s grace to saturate their own thinking. Those quick to express gratitude no matter what their circumstances reveal a rich thought life of thankfulness.
When someone offends me, I can stew over that person’s many faults. (Interesting how perceptive we become of others’ weakness when they hurt us). Or I can peel back the offense and think of that person’s good qualities. When I choose to consider what is lovely and honorable in their lives, I make room for healing and forgiveness.
Jesus said we speak out of the abundance of our hearts. Our words and actions reveal whether or not we possess good treasure or bad. And make no mistake, people around us will know instinctively whether our hearts have “made room for Daddy.”