What do you feed your dog?

How can I feed the dog which brings life, health, righteousness, and joy?  This thought has been percolating in my mind ever since Sunday’s message regarding renewing our minds.  I put my ipod on this morning to listen to while vacuuming, and what song do you suppose was playing?  “Think on These Things” by Petra.  So, as I sucked up dust bunnies, toast crumbs, and dirt from muddy shoes, I heard “...there’s a danger waiting - thoughts held in captivity.  The vain imaginations that long to be set free – I hold the key, with thoughts of purity.  Whatever things are pure and true, I want to think on these things.”  It is songs like these, inspired by scripture (Philippians 4:8) that help me feed the dog that I want to win!  What I’ve been telling my son is a truth of life found in the Bible – your attitude makes all the difference!  What are the thoughts that I need to take captive, and which thoughts do I need to consciously dwell upon?  What about critical, negative thoughts about my spouse?  Have you ever been out with a group of women friends, and had the conversation turn to complaining about husbands?  Sometimes it is in jest, but the things we laugh at say a lot about our own minds and our own thinking!  Why is it so much easier to complain than to encourage and uplift?  Maybe it’s because it’s not as funny to say, “You know, my husband is not perfect, but he is really a great father – he loves the kids and spends as much time with them as he can,” than to say, “You should see the state of the house when my husband stays home for a day!”  Gordon Necemer in his Sunday School class yesterday made a comment about what a privilege it is to give a portion of the earnings God has blessed him with to the government, so that they can provide police, fire fighters, medical care, well-tended roads, parks, community programs, etc.  When’s the last time you heard an attitude like that about income tax?!  It certainly challenged me – it’s so easy to fall into ‘worldly’ attitudes towards taxes – give as little as possible, and complain as much as possible about it!   “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.”  Romans 12:2 (Good News translation).  Where in your life, in your daily tasks, do you need a complete change of your mind?  In your attitude towards a teacher?  A coach?  A doctor?  A co-worker?  Perhaps towards another follower of Christ?  This morning in my devotions I read a quote that said, “Religion can provide a way to avoid the harsh facts of our experience, or it can be a means of living into the unpleasant actuality with reasonable hope.”  It’s a matter of attitude – of conforming our minds to think on what is right, pure, true, noble, lovely, and honourable, giving us hope, rather than a means of escape.  God calls us to change the way we think about life, about our experiences - to think with hope, because he wants to give us abundant life, here and now.  That’s how I can feed the dog I want to win – the dog which brings life.