“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive (zip tie) every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

“Oh… there’s another one!” was the thought I had in my head as I was walking along a back alleyway to my truck. The sun was bright so my head was down. Looking at the road in front of me, I saw a zip tie. Instantly, as I am prone to do, the thought in my brain was “treasure” and I started to bend to pick it up… until I saw another not far from it. Then came a question.

“Why do you want that zip tie?” was the question that came to mind. Honestly, I had no idea where the thought came from, though I presumed it was from the Holy Spirit because that is how He typically works with me. A thought, an object, a conversation… just about anything can be a God prompt. So I rolled the question around in my head and had a little ‘court session’ of my own.

‘To pick up or not to pick up the zip tie…’ THAT was the question. The arguments for both pro and con are too long and boring to go into… but the conclusion came with, you ALWAYS pick up zip ties… You have LOTS of them at home yet… you rarely EVER use them. So I left it lying for someone else’s tool box, picking up an appreciation for its lesson to me. Some seeming treasures are just junk!

Lots of ideas and emotions go through me on a regular basis. Being agathokakological (consisting of both good and evil… see Romans 7) I live with a war raging within me 24/7… as does every Christian. Which is the purpose for today’s verse. When something comes to mind or heart, The Word tells me to grab it, ‘zip tie’ it to His Will and then to store or dispose of it accordingly.

When the zip tie incident happened, I had actually been at a mental crossroads over something that was bugging me. Trying to make a decision as to what to do was tough, because there was no immediately clear moral right or wrong. After the zip tie event, I was able to use The zip tie lesson to see that the decision I made WOULD have long term effects that were VERY important.

So thanks for the head’s down lesson God! I appreciate your walking with me and looking out for YOUR and my best interests… even in the alleyways of life! Do YOU walk with Him too? DO you filter every thought and emotion through His will and Word?