Have you ever met someone who really wishes that he had more money? That desire translates into how he thinks during a normal day. He wishes he had a different car, a better car, but can’t afford what he wants. He wishes he could have a job that gave him more weeks of vacation, but he has to settle for the job he has. As he drives to and from work he daydreams about owning the kinds of cars that he sees on the road. When he gets home from work in the evening he daydreams about the “dream vacation” that he can’t afford and will, most likely, never get.

While he is letting those kinds of thoughts inhabit his mind he is simultaneously not leaving room in his mind for other thoughts - thoughts that would be more in line with Philippians 4:8,

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Instead of focusing on true and right and praiseworthy thoughts, he is filling his mind with thoughts that are leading him nowhere.

How much of your time do you spend thinking about things that are not true or right? Listen to the prayer of the psalmist n Psalm 119:37,

“Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways.”

He felt the tug in his own heart to look after and desire empty things. That is what ‘vanity’ means - empty. The psalmist was like you. He was a real person with a sin nature like yours and the temptation to wish things were different and then to get distracted with that wish. And so he prayed, “Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways.”

You can make that your prayer too. And then you can trade in your vain thoughts for true and honorable and right thoughts. We don’t need to trade in our car for a better one. We need to trade in our thoughts for better ones!