During two months of maternity leave, my wife and I set out to establish a new life of discipline. We were going to spend all this wealth of free time seeking God concerning this new phase of our lives. We were going to read the three shelves full of ministry materials and books on Christian living and victory. Our days were going to be used praying together with our new son so that his life would begin immediately with a strong presence of parents who seek after God. His ears were going to be filled with the hundreds of hours of sermons and teachings on faith that are packed onto my PC. And every Sunday he would sit in the front of the church, bathed in worship and the Word. We were going to walk away from two months of time together with renewed hearts on minds that were going to be fixated on the love of the Lord Jesus.
Bull&%@*.
Most parents might be chuckling at my lofty goals. Of course we didn't have time for all that - we had a screaming child who took up all our time and energy. The thing is: we didn't. James is the most mild-mannered child I have ever seen. The prayers I bathed him in from the moment Ally learned she was pregnant have caused this young man to be so full of peace and joy that I still marvel at how "easy" parenthood has been. We simply got lazy. 6seasons of The West Wing. 6seasons of Gilmore Girls. 8seasons of Scrubs. The Bachelor. Scandal. You get the picture... Only 3sermons. Only one-half of a book. Only 3times in the front of the sanctuary.
No guilt. No condemnation. Just a reality check. It was a reality check I had again this morning. One what had to be my four-hundredth attempt to do all the things I've promised to do, I began the next in a series of teachings on the Love of God. As I listened to the words on how to live in love, not bashing all the ridiculous denominational teachings out there (ok, that was low, but I'm getting better), I noticed something. My spirit felt stronger. I didn't feel as annoyed as I usually do with Catholics. I didn't pound the cat when he got on the table for whatever countless number of times it was. She got whacked, but the deserve to turn her into a hat was gone. I even felt kind of bad for using so much as a censored "potty-word" a moment ago. I was onto something. I pondered this more. A few things came to mind as the Lord showed me some things. And now, after a very lengthy intro, I will show you these. Starting with two passages of Scripture:
Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
~Matthew 12:34-35
My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
And health to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
For out of it spring the issues of life.
~Proverbs 4:20-23
So much can be covered in these brief passages of Scripture. For instance, how is it possible for Christians to teach that God makes people, or leaves people, sick and deformed, when the Scripture plainly states that It is medicine to our bodies? Or how is it that we can believe that, as disciples of Jesus, it is ok to watch whatever we want, read whatever we want, do whatever we want, when the Scriptures are quite clear that what we look upon in abundance drastically colors our thoughts and worldviews? So much to think about, but this is what the Lord brought to my mind...
Our lives need to be more focused on the things of God than most of us realize. While that sentence is sure to illicit a rounding response of "Duuuuuuuuuuuhh!", think on this more in light of the Scriptures above. We see instructions on diligence before us. We see actions that require time and discipline. Abundance doesn't come from 20minutes in the morning. Focus is required to achieve the desired results. Jesus told us that we bring forth good things when good things are stored within us. That's a huge Biblical principle. Faith comes by hearing the Word, according to Romans 10:17. The more abundant the Word, the more abundant the faith to bring that Word to pass. This is rarely preached. It not widely believed or understood. Christians struggle with issues they should never bother with because the mind is not set on the pure truths of God's Word. Perhaps those truths are twisted. Perhaps they are not yet known. Or, worst of all, they are forgotten - because the Word has not been given it's rightful place at the center of our hearts and minds.
Believe it or not, you have what you say. Whatever you believe will happen in your life is exactly what is going to happen (see Matthew 8:13; Mark 11:23-24; James 3:2-4). Jesus said we bring forth what we say, and what we say is a direct result of what we have been building up in our hearts and our minds through what we see and hear. While I am not really one of those "holiness" people who are anti-TV, anti-movie, anti-Harry Potter, anti-"non-christian" music, anti-beer, etc., I have begun to see that it is immensely important that we pay attention to what we "feed on."
The human existence is three-fold: you are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. And just as that body needs physical food to function, your soul and spirit need soul/spirit food to function. Jesus said that His words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). We need to make a more conscious effort to feed on the Words of life. The music we listen to should focus our attention on what the Lord has done for us (I could do another Casting Crowns rant here, but I've gone over already as it is.). The books that we read should be full of words that reveal further all that Jesus has done for us and how much He loves us and highly He thinks of us and the victories guaranteed us as His people (anti-Francis Chan rant? OK, no). Abundant supply comes from abundant intake.
Once you come to full-realization of this principle, the amount of time you spend watching TV or sitting around reading Cosmo or listening to some kind of pointless pop music will drastically change.
This isn't meant to put anyone into bondage. You don't have to go off the deep end and break all your CDs in-half or throw away your movies or burn your every book. That's extremism. I know it well. But take some time to consider your situation. Examine your heart. What is your focus on? What is coming out of your mouth in abundance? Is it fear? Anger? Doubt? Depression? Weakness? Hopelessness? Profanity? Contradiction? Ignorance? Stupidity? Blasphemy? Do you think lowly of yourself? Do you assume God is far-off, doing whatever He wants, whenever He wants?
Here is how you know you are on the right track: "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." ~John 15:11
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