Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8
One of the ancients spoke wisely and simply about thoughts. “Judge thoughts,” he said, “before the judgment seat of the heart, to discern whether they are ours or those of our enemy. Place those which are good and properly our own in the inmost shrine of the soul, keeping them in this inviolable treasury. But chastise hostile thoughts with the whip of the intelligence and banish them, giving them no place, no abode within the bounds of your soul. Or, to speak more fittingly, slay them completely with the sword of prayer and divine meditation, so that when the robbers have been destroyed, their chief may take fright. For,” so he says, “a man who examines his thoughts strictly is one who also truly loves the commandments.”
Theodore of Edessa (d. 848) in Philokalia V2.29.
I shared this post a few days ago and have returned to it because I can’t get this idea of the inviolable treasury out of my mind, and how it shows whether we truly love the commandments of God.
Humor me to go deeper. When we think of generosity, we think of gifts flowing from a treasury.
But here, Theodore points us to the inviolable treasury. Inviolable means “never to be broken, infringed, or dishonored.” Let me explain the connection to generosity.
Billions of people have more than enough resources to live. But they hoard for themselves because they harbor this thought: “Who will take care of me in times of trouble?”
That’s a thought to banish from your mind.
When that thought guides you, it leads to disobedient stewardship. You don’t obey the command of Jesus to go, sell, give, come, and follow. You stop, keep, go, and fail to follow. And, in so doing, you put your trust in yourself.
Only those who cherish the thought that God cares for them experience His care.
Notice, He does not force us to choose to entrust ourselves to His matchless care. It’s the result of what thoughts we hold tightly in our inviolable treasury and what thoughts we jettison.
There are many other examples of commandments to which we should hold tightly.
But our thoughts cause us to forget the commandments and hold on to false narratives which then change our experience of life.
I will ponder this with you as I fly to Sydney, Australia, over the next two days.
Consider the teachings of Jesus. Which ones seem hard to you. Pause. Ask Jesus for help to obey. What if you put even the hard ones in your inviolable treasury and trashed worldly narratives?
How would it change your living, giving, serving, and loving?
For the sake of vulnerability, I am sitting in John 14:12-14. I am learning to ask and trust God for bigger things, to not allow circumstances or people to rattle me, and to have greater faith.