I will sing of steadfast love and justice. To You, O Lord, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will You come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house. I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. (Verses 1-3)
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 (italics, mine)
Solomon was, in his day, touted as being the wisest man who ever lived. When he reigned over Israel, he wrote Ecclesiastes, a book of wisdom. His summary of our senses: All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing. Even then the great king adjured that nothing is new under the sun. We're doing what we've always done. Sinning in the same old ways. Because we just can't get enough of the world. Or can we? Ever just been utterly weary of this life? Of walking through the muck in order to get to the gold?
I remember when I was a kid, my father allowed me to watch the movie "The Incredible Shrinking Man" thinking it wouldn't scare me. At first it was interesting to see this daddy, who had a wife and kids, start his diminishing on the screen before me. All the objects around him changed perspective and he finally got lost in his own home. The tiny man's frantic wife was always looking for him. Didn't know where he'd turn up next. Then it morphed into the horrific. Somehow he was down in the basement and a tarantula was thinking the little guy would make a very nice dinner. Of course, the tarantula was huge and the man, by now, the size of a fly. Where to run? How to hide from the eight-legged monster about to destroy him? In his panic, the man discovered a nearby matchbox and ran as fast as his minuscule legs could carry him into the apparent safety of the box. On its eight tippy-toes, the spider came menacingly toward the man then jumped upon his hiding place. And...I screamed bloody murder! Oh, my gosh! Am I still afraid of spiders? Yep.
The visual is still with me. As are the visuals of other things I have allowed myself to gaze upon. Stuck there. Filling the places that other thoughts could fill if they weren't sometimes crowded out with worthless thoughts and visions. Television, movies, videos, books are engorged with mixed messages and images and dialogue that are constantly defining our culture--our thoughts and actions. And we let them. Foul language is now the standard for movies that glory in sex and murder. "The Incredible Shrinking Man" is so tame compared to the death and debauchery that is normal with every click of the remote. We are anesthetized--drugged into a stupor by a culture lost in images too dark for our Father to even look upon.
So, when I woke up yesterday, my thoughts wandered into foul territory. Don't judge. Your thoughts go there, too, if you're honest. What I know is that I have a choice to not think about the unlovely, nugatory stuff and instead intentionally change the channel my mind turned to upon opening up to the day. Just like I don't have to turn on the TV or go to an iffy movie, I don't have to think about worthless things. I don't! But I have to be willing to change channels. Pick up my Bible, or pray, or choose another image and sound bite to dwell upon. That must be more difficult the more we've allowed pornography, sleazy movies, violent images from video games and soft porn novels to infiltrate our subconscious. If the eye is never full of seeing all it desires and the ear is never satiated with gossip and filth, we are in big trouble if we can't control what we see and hear. We need a mental shower. To be cleansed. To be washed with the water of the Word. Sometimes we can't help what we come in contact with, but we don't have to let it clothe us. Let it cling to us like a bad odor. Because what we lap up will consume us. That's what addiction is. Losing the ability to say no.
The flip side is that there are wonderful things to think about. Images too glorious for words abound in the Book my Father wrote. And there is the beauty of nature to mesmerize me out of my worldly cares. Walking the beach while dolphins play in the ocean always brings my thoughts to "whatsoever things are worthy of praise." Remembering my own need for grace reminds me of "whatsoever things are just," just in case my thoughts become haughty and unforgiving. And when I judge others it's best if first I look to making my own way blameless--that my walk is right with God. No casting the first stone when the mote in my own eye could knock someone down. No dwelling on offenses. No spreading gossip. And for those who've fallen away, who call to me to join the ranks of the over-satiated and indulge in whatsoever fails to glorify God, I must also choose to let them walk their path without me. The disease which infects them could easily infect me if I turn to the left or to the right away from the excellence my Father calls me to.
And I want my heart to sing a new song. I want my mind to be filled with thoughts of the One I love. Crowd my senses with His nearness and joy in my relationship with my Beloved. The more I love Him, the less I love the worthless things. In fact, He is my motive for looking away. Not religious "have-to's" but my desire to have one love, unmarred by the stench of my old sins. Faithful in thought and deed to the One Who is ever faithful to me.
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 (italics, mine)
Solomon was, in his day, touted as being the wisest man who ever lived. When he reigned over Israel, he wrote Ecclesiastes, a book of wisdom. His summary of our senses: All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing. Even then the great king adjured that nothing is new under the sun. We're doing what we've always done. Sinning in the same old ways. Because we just can't get enough of the world. Or can we? Ever just been utterly weary of this life? Of walking through the muck in order to get to the gold?
I remember when I was a kid, my father allowed me to watch the movie "The Incredible Shrinking Man" thinking it wouldn't scare me. At first it was interesting to see this daddy, who had a wife and kids, start his diminishing on the screen before me. All the objects around him changed perspective and he finally got lost in his own home. The tiny man's frantic wife was always looking for him. Didn't know where he'd turn up next. Then it morphed into the horrific. Somehow he was down in the basement and a tarantula was thinking the little guy would make a very nice dinner. Of course, the tarantula was huge and the man, by now, the size of a fly. Where to run? How to hide from the eight-legged monster about to destroy him? In his panic, the man discovered a nearby matchbox and ran as fast as his minuscule legs could carry him into the apparent safety of the box. On its eight tippy-toes, the spider came menacingly toward the man then jumped upon his hiding place. And...I screamed bloody murder! Oh, my gosh! Am I still afraid of spiders? Yep.
The visual is still with me. As are the visuals of other things I have allowed myself to gaze upon. Stuck there. Filling the places that other thoughts could fill if they weren't sometimes crowded out with worthless thoughts and visions. Television, movies, videos, books are engorged with mixed messages and images and dialogue that are constantly defining our culture--our thoughts and actions. And we let them. Foul language is now the standard for movies that glory in sex and murder. "The Incredible Shrinking Man" is so tame compared to the death and debauchery that is normal with every click of the remote. We are anesthetized--drugged into a stupor by a culture lost in images too dark for our Father to even look upon.
So, when I woke up yesterday, my thoughts wandered into foul territory. Don't judge. Your thoughts go there, too, if you're honest. What I know is that I have a choice to not think about the unlovely, nugatory stuff and instead intentionally change the channel my mind turned to upon opening up to the day. Just like I don't have to turn on the TV or go to an iffy movie, I don't have to think about worthless things. I don't! But I have to be willing to change channels. Pick up my Bible, or pray, or choose another image and sound bite to dwell upon. That must be more difficult the more we've allowed pornography, sleazy movies, violent images from video games and soft porn novels to infiltrate our subconscious. If the eye is never full of seeing all it desires and the ear is never satiated with gossip and filth, we are in big trouble if we can't control what we see and hear. We need a mental shower. To be cleansed. To be washed with the water of the Word. Sometimes we can't help what we come in contact with, but we don't have to let it clothe us. Let it cling to us like a bad odor. Because what we lap up will consume us. That's what addiction is. Losing the ability to say no.
The flip side is that there are wonderful things to think about. Images too glorious for words abound in the Book my Father wrote. And there is the beauty of nature to mesmerize me out of my worldly cares. Walking the beach while dolphins play in the ocean always brings my thoughts to "whatsoever things are worthy of praise." Remembering my own need for grace reminds me of "whatsoever things are just," just in case my thoughts become haughty and unforgiving. And when I judge others it's best if first I look to making my own way blameless--that my walk is right with God. No casting the first stone when the mote in my own eye could knock someone down. No dwelling on offenses. No spreading gossip. And for those who've fallen away, who call to me to join the ranks of the over-satiated and indulge in whatsoever fails to glorify God, I must also choose to let them walk their path without me. The disease which infects them could easily infect me if I turn to the left or to the right away from the excellence my Father calls me to.
And I want my heart to sing a new song. I want my mind to be filled with thoughts of the One I love. Crowd my senses with His nearness and joy in my relationship with my Beloved. The more I love Him, the less I love the worthless things. In fact, He is my motive for looking away. Not religious "have-to's" but my desire to have one love, unmarred by the stench of my old sins. Faithful in thought and deed to the One Who is ever faithful to me.
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