PTFT Vanity of Thoughts, The

Thomas Goodwin | Reformation Heritage

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How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
—Jeremiah 4:14

The heart is like a boardinghouse where we welcome and entertain many ideas like guests. In The Vanity of Thoughts, Thomas Goodwin helps us consider our native tendency to harbor frivolous and sinful mental companions. And having identified the severity of our condition, Goodwin encourages us to humbly and mindfully perform some much-needed housekeeping. He also provides remedies against these unprofitable inhabitants. We live in an age of information and a culture of entertainment. Here is a timely reminder about the vital importance of our thought life with a call to bring every thought captive to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

96 pages.

Contents
Preface

Introduction

The Nature of Thoughts
The Meaning of Vanity
Reluctance toward Good Thoughts
Evil Thoughts
Sinful Imaginations
Practical Uses
Remedies against Vain Thoughts

Appendix: How Thoughts Reveal Our Hearts

Endorsement
“Thomas Goodwin thinks that you should think about your thinking. In a world that not merely allows but actively promotes and fuels vain thinking, Goodwin’s sweet and punchy little treatment of our mental-moral processes is a gem. He helps us not only identify foolish and frothy notions and imaginations but shows us how to stave them off while also filling our minds with the best things. Plainly and practically, Goodwin reminds us that Christianity is a genuinely thoughtful and truly holy religion.”
—Jeremy Walker, pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church, Crawley, England

A much ignored area of discipleship

Good thoughts out of order are bad. Thomas Goodwin writes, “We find our minds ready to spend thoughts on anything rather than what God is presently calling us to… This disorder is a vanity and sin, though the matter of the thoughts themselves are good.”

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. - Proverbs 16:3

“God would not have such a mind darting here and there, but rather steadfastly directing all our thoughts straight to His glory, our salvation, and the good of others.
He gave the mind this nimbleness, that it might quickly turn from evil, even the first appearance of evil. We are to walk in the ways to which God calls us. Therefore, every thought, as well as every action, is a step, and these steps should be steady.”

“Having discovered the vanity of your thoughts and thus your condition, be humbled… When you are humbled, you have nothing to say and nothing to plead. You do not excuse your thoughts as being free or impossible to get rid of.”

“Above all you must keep thy heart and, in keeping your heart, your thoughts. For this is the great commandment because it extends itself as the foundation of all other commands. For just as the command against murder also forbids malicious thoughts, the same is true of the rest of the commandments. For just as original sin is said to be forbidden in all the commandments, so the obedience of your thoughts is implied in them all.”

So fill the heart and mind with good treasures. Store it up. Stir up affection for what is good and holy for thoughts will follow our affections.

One of the ways God has given to guard us against sin is our work. So we are to be diligent in our tasks and complete well what he has called us to in the fear of the Lord. Idle hands will give reign to idle thoughts.

Gem of a book

This book gives a lot to think about when it comes to our thoughts and the impact they have on our spiritual life. In a world where everything is supplied in short bits of information via the internet I have found this book a great reminder to Christians to examine our thoughts, acknowledge where they come from and how they should be formed by the Bible and not the world around us.

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