“Think About These Things" Philippians 4:8

One of Stephen’s favorite stories to hear at bedtime was “The Little Engine that Could.” Perhaps you remember the story.

It’s about a train of toys for children in need of an engine. More powerful engines are asked to pull the train, but they had more important things to do. Finally, a little engine agreed to try. The trip included the climb over a steep mountain, and there were those who questioned whether the little engine would have the power to complete the journey. “I think I can,” was all the little engine would say.

As he pulled the train, the little engine kept saying, “I think I can. I think I can.” He kept saying it as he pulled the train. At the end, as he’s pulling the train into the station, the little engine is heard to say, “I thought I could, I thought I could.”

There is a lot of truth in this story, a truth that is found in the Bible. “I think I can” is a statement of faith, and the Bible tells us that we must walk by faith. When we begin to embrace the message of the Bible as true, then we begin to put our faith in living out the Bible’s message. As we begin to live it out, we find our faith is tested and grows.

The difference between a small train engine and us is that the engine had to do what he did by himself. We who are in Christ are not asked to do things on our own, but we are asked to let Christ live through us and do things through us.

Background

We’ve been looking at the virtues Paul writes about in Philippians 4:8. Each of these virtues is present in God’s people. We only have to think about them and put them into practice. The context of the verse is important, though.

This verse comes towards the end of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. It is church that struggles economically, but is rich in faith and in giving. Paul seems to have a special affection for the group of believers that make up this fellowship. As we come to the end, Paul reminds them of some important things.

First, he reminds two prominent members of the congregation to work together. Apparently, there was a division that had grown up between them, and Paul not only asks them to work together in Christ, but he encourages the church to help them in this reconciliation.

In verses 4-7, Paul reminds the church of one of the key ways to avoid conflict in the future. He stresses the need to rejoice in all things. This is done by being gentle in the way we react with each other. We are encouraged to avoid anxiety, but to live by faith instead. The way to overcome this anxiety is to pray constantly about everything, always with thanksgiving. Do this, and we find the peace of God that defies our emotions. It is a peace that is guaranteed by God and is not dependent upon our feelings.

After v. 8, Paul tells the readers to follow his example—to put these things into practice, with the promise that God is with us.

While v. 8 ends with “think on these things,” it really means much more than simply mulling over whatever is true, noble, and so forth. Instead, we are to put them into practice.

Central Truth: Doing things change the way we think about and see things.

To think about such things, we need to:

Put It into Practice

I used to think that Paul was a little full of himself by setting himself as an example of how to live for Christ. But as I’ve come to better understand Paul and his ministry, I realize he’s not saying, “Look at me, how godly I am.” Instead, he’s telling them that he’s found the answer to how to live for Christ, and he wants to convey that same truth to his readers.

Just as Jesus tells us to come to Him, because He is humble and meek is not bragging, so are Paul’s words in v. 9. What Paul learned in his walk with Christ is to put what he believes into practice. Put his faith to work. James reminds us that faith without works is dead; Paul reminds us that we need to put our faith into practice. We need to put these things into practice.

In order to put these virtues into practice, we need to realize that we have been crucified with Christ (cf. Romans 6, Galatians 2:19-21), and that we are powerless without Him (cf. John 15:4-5). The way we put this faith into practice is to acknowledge that my actions are not my own anymore, but Christ living through me through His Spirit. We begin to pray, “Jesus, I thank You that You are doing the dishes through Me,” or “Thank You, Jesus, for driving for Me.” It doesn’t mean I sit back and wait for the dishes to be miraculously washed or that I then lean back in the driver’s seat, close my eyes and take a nap, trusting Jesus to do the driving.

What it means is that I am consciously placing myself at Jesus’ disposal as I do my daily chores or drive or work or relate to others. I trust Him to do it through me as I am doing it.

So, I come to this verse, and I tell Jesus I’m looking forward to Him leading me into truth, noble actions, the things that are right, pure, lovely and admirable. And I start living my life in deliberately seeking after these things.

At first, it won’t be easy. For those of us who are engrained in thinking negative thoughts, it won’t come “naturally” to us to suddenly thinking positive things. Just as a baby doesn’t immediately start walking upon being born, it will take time for us to break from our natural way of doing things and start doing things in a spiritual, faith-based way.

But it will happen. Peter, in is second letter, talks about how this works. He writes, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).

These things Paul writes of in Philippians 4:8 are things that are excellent and praiseworthy. The words Paul uses are used in the pagan world, recognizing that there are things even non-believers recognize as worthy of honor and things to be pursued. So Paul says if even the pagans recognize these things as noble, so should we, and we add the power of God’s grace and knowledge to this.

Focus on the Doing

Paul tells the Philippians to follow his example. The way Paul was living his life was through focusing on what God had called him to do. That focus is important.

The Baylor Bears played Texas this weekend. There was much concern about whether Baylor would be able to get back up after their disappointing loss to Oklahoma. Head coach Matt Rhule kept saying that his players were focused on Texas. The game came, and Baylor won the game, 24-10. The Bears were focused, and next week, they’ll be focused on Kansas. The coach said the team lost its focus against Oklahoma. They began to watch the clock, look at the score, and they forgot the focus was on the field, not the scoreboard.

When Jesus was walking on water, Peter asked Jesus to call him to also walk on the water. Jesus called, and Peter climbed over the side of the boat and began walking on the water to Jesus. But something happened—either a flash of lightning, maybe a wave splashing in his face—and Peter took his eyes off of Jesus. He lost his focus, and he began to sink. It was the sure hand of Jesus that pulled Peter out of the stormy lake and brought him back to the safety of the boat.

The key to walking successfully with Jesus is to keep our focus on Him. Trust Him to live in us and through us. Give ourselves to Him in love and faith. Focus on the things Paul wrote about. Walk the walk.

Be transformed in our thinking

The interesting thing about putting our faith into practice and focusing our attention on Christ is that it changes us and changes the way we see the world and ourselves.

When we begin to focus on the true, the noble, the pure, the lovely, we begin to see these things even in our world. We begin to see past the ugly, negative things and we begin to see with the eyes of Christ. We see a woman caught in adultery no longer as someone deserving to be condemned and stoned, but to be forgiven and accepted as a person worthy of God’s love. We begin to see people different from us and begin to focus on the things that join us together—Christ did for them, too, and He demonstrated His love for them by dying on that same cross that resulted in my salvation.

By putting these virtues into practice, by letting Christ live through us and transform our way of seeing things and of relating to people and circumstances, we find that it becomes easier each day to truly give thanks to God in all things.

Conclusion

That little engine that could began his story with, “I think I can, I think I can.” He ended his story with, “I thought I could, I thought I could.” The next time he is asked to pull a train, he’ll be more confident that he can do the task asked of him.

As we begin to let Christ live in and through us, we begin to realize that we are changed. We can begin to say, not, “I think I can” but “I know I can through Christ who lives in and through me.”

Paul tells us to think about these things. Mull them over, yes. Consider them, certainly. But begin putting them into practice. Your life will explode with the power of Christ living in you.