Several years ago (I want to say like 5...) I attended a youth retreat with several youth groups from New England and something that the speaker said on that weekend has stuck with me since then.
"What are you thinking about when you have nothing to think about?" - Bo White
What is that supposed to mean, you are wondering, so let me explain.
After he said that he went on to explain it a little more and it basically came down to this; what is the screensaver/default of your mind?
What is it that comes to mind first when there is nothing else needed to come to mind at a certain moment. What, when you close your eyes, instantly pops into your head.
If the answer isn't God or something that is God-pleasing, it is time to do some reevaluation of what is going on in your cerebral cortex.
The human mind is sort of like a giant computer (sort of...); it has the ability to collect, store and use information. The human mind also has the ability to "download" things with out us consciously realizing what is happening. What we see and hear at all seconds of every day influences how we think and what we think about. It is hugely amazing the capacity that our brains have...but how is it effecting our lives?
Our giant-computer-like brain can very easily become taken over with "viruses."
What we watch, what we listen to, who we hang around with; all that effortlessly feed our minds with downloads. Our thoughts are easily consumed with what they shouldn't be. The Bible says "As a man thinks, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7).
Think about that one for even just a second and thinks begin to seem a little scary, if you think anything like me...
Keeping the life of our thoughts in alignment with God's will for us is a conscious and daily decision. Often we try to rationalize our sin by telling ourselves we are only thinking it...we didn't say or do it, so it must not count...right?
That verse from Proverbs says otherwise. Sorry.
It is very, very, very (etc, etc) difficult to set our minds on "things above" when we are down here and the world isn't looking so "abovely."
What are you focusing on? What have you fixated your mind upon?
"We bow our hearts, We bend our knees, Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things, Oh Lord we cast down our idols
So give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh give us clean hands and give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Oh God let this be a generation that seeks, Who seeks Your face, Oh God of Jacob"
(Give Us Clean Hands, written by Charlie Hall, sung by many.)
In closing, a not only "life verse" of mine, but a daily one;
"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."-Psalm 19:14.
4 comments:
this is a great post. This made me think about how easy it is to do the opposite. In the sense that people(myself included) fill every second of the day with stuff so that there is no time to think about heavenly things. there's an old saying, "if the devil can't make you sin, he will make you busy". which is pretty much equally as bad. The verse you chose is fitting for both cases.
Bella, you amaze me. And Hedge, that's really true. The devil is sneeky like that.
i'm glad we all agree :)
I remember that retreat! And I remember when Bo said that quote (which I also have written down somewhere) I was, "oh. thank you. stab and twist..." which is sort of what this post did...
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