Have you ever eaten junk food? This is a commonly used term for food that contains calories but not much nourishment. There is an entire industry based on providing this and it is readily available. It is appealing and most people eat some although a steady diet of it is not beneficial for you. Have you ever had any junk thoughts? These too are readily available, and you have unlimited opportunities for them, but a steady diet of these is not recommended either. Thoughts can be without redemptive purpose in the same way that food can contain calories but not provide nourishment. So I invite you to think on those things that are pure and lovely. Keep me in all your thoughts.

Do you always tell the truth? Is there ever a time when you should not tell the truth? Everyone who gossips will claim that they are telling the truth. Would that that were true. But even if it is, that is no excuse for speaking the truth without love. Can you tell the truth and do so in a way that is full of redemptive purpose? Only a fool utters all his mind and you know things that are true that you should not speak. It is the glory kings to search out a matter. People want to investigate and get to the bottom of things. But it is the glory of God to conceal a matter. Which of these is the greater glory?

And be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds. Conformity means taking on the shape of something you are in contact with, such as molten metal taking on the shape of a mold in a foundry. This is a great method for making uniform castings, but it is not good for people, even though the same principle applies. But the passage offers a choice between alternatives, implying it will be one or the other. Being conformed to me means being transformed, because it is conformity to my transcendent image rather than anything of this world.

Are you an organ donor? Normally this would only occur in the event of your death, but you can make the designation in advance. This is a nice pro-life gesture in which your organs may live on and benefit others when you are gone. I have a superior alternative available to you right now. I have called you to be a living sacrifice. In this case you can donate your entire body, and you don’t have to wait until you die to do it. You can donate it now intact and functional. If you take this seriously you can provide a greater benefit for others while you are alive than your organs can after you die.