Summer Detours

Tuesday, March 2, 2021



During my summers in Mississippi, I would get in my car and drive to a faraway internship. New York, West Virginia, and New Jersey were a few of the places I’d go to work as a journalist. 


I used a map I printed from a website. The map never showed me detours but they were always there. Detours always took me back to where I was supposed to be. 


I see my thought life as those interstates that led me to my destination. Bad attitudes are nothing but detours. Instead of staying on the detour, I would eventually go back to where I was supposed to go. 


We all deal with bad attitudes from time to time. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as that is not your final destination. 


My complaining attitude is directly connected to the things I meditate on. If my reaction to something is bad, it usually comes from meditating on negative things. I found a Bible verse that helped a lot: 


"May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD." Psalm 104:35


God hears my meditation. What a great thing is to have a meditation so good that it is sweet to God. What kind of stuff should I meditate on? Here's a good list:

• True things

• Noble things

• Just things

• Pure things

• Lovely things

• Good reports

• Virtuous things

• Praiseworthy things


If this excludes your social media feed, you know you can find these things both in the Bible and as fruit of the lives of people who are surrendered to the Lord Jesus and His word. 


QUESTION: What are you meditating on today? Can you change it to something sweet to God?


Prayer: Jesus, my thought life can take some wild detours. Help me to return to the main road of your Word. Today, help me occupy my mind with things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous and praiseworthy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.