“Age before beauty”
I have been recognising that I am slowing down a bit. I’m not as vigorous as I used to be. That includes me physically and mentally as well. I’m realising I’m having to work to keep myself alert.
There’s nothing wrong with my health or my age. I just don’t have the quickness of movement I used to have, and perhaps even my thinking is slowing down. This is not a bad thing because it is inspiring me to write to you, believers… to “let not our minds get lazy!”
I’m sure the slowness and stiffness in my body has to do with getting older…. Although I’m thinner than I used to be and within the boundaries of ideal weight, and although according to medical science I’m healthy, I am aging; so physically, I’m less flexible and less quick than I was a few years ago. I exercise most days to try to keep age at bay.
As for my mind though, I don’t think the reduction of vitality is age (or at least not entirely), but rather, I think my mind will be as fit and healthy as I choose it to be, based upon the choices I make every day. Just as what I eat and what I do keeps me physically healthy (or not!), so too what I feed my mind and how I use it will determine significantly how dexterous my thinking remains.
What isn’t good for me
I have learned too much tv or internet is not good for me. It deadens my acuity. I’ve written about that before: I can choose to watch a movie or read a book; I can choose to surf the net or not! But also, what I watch will either stimulate or deter my mental clarity and agility. This is the nub of what I want to write about today…
Proverbs 22: 24-25 says,
“Make no friendship with an angry man,
And with a furious man do not go,
Lest you learn his ways
And set a snare for your soul.”
On the surface, this proverb speaks of associations and friendships, but it can also mean influences. Today, we can influence people in the millions without ever meeting them, simply through what we post on the internet.
So too, can we be influenced by people though we never meet them in person. We don’t know the character of such people, we don’t know their personality. We only know what we see from our screens. And yet, many of these people act as pastors in our lives, or philosophers, or are our source of news and information.
If a person is raging — either in temper or accusation — he or she is angry, unsettled or in slang, “mad”. And why do we call it mad? Because ‘emotion is hot, and reason is not’.
Irrespective of how a person portrays himself or herself on social media or the in news media, they may — and probably do — have an agenda behind their postings. If the person is angry, is it righteous anger driving them, or self-righteous anger?
Anger: righteousness or self-righteousness
Righteousness can only come from GOD. When Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, he was very angry. But out of that anger, he said clearly and simply,
“… It is written, ‘My house is a ‘house of prayer’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Luke 19:46)
If we follow writers or speakers who are angry at government or science or the rich-and-powerful, why are we following them? What they say may be accurate, but what is their attraction and what is their effect upon us: on our minds, on our relationship with GOD and sharing the Gospel, and with our brothers and sisters with whom we may not agree?
The litmus test is simple
If, from what we are digesting, we are not growing closer to GOD and to loving Him and others more, then what we are digesting is not of GOD.
Making healthy choices
How much non-spiritual food do you want to digest? A little bit of chocolate is not unhealthy physically, but how much proportion of chocolate do you put in your daily diet? Likewise, a little bit of news can be interesting and can even inform for our prayers. But how much “bad news” is healthy to digest or even desirable?
(Insightful aside: This morning I thought about how I tend to nibble snacks and sweets whilst I’m watching the news. I just realised: I think I’m doing it as a comfort… and actually it is to comfort myself from what I’m watching! Therefore, what I’m watching must not be making a positive impact upon me.)
Spiritually speaking, for my mind, as Paul suggests in Philippians 4:8, I will aim primarily to choose, “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
These are righteous choices, these are healthy choices, these are wise choices to make.
Be aware
I write Preparing the Bride because, as a watchman, my call is to observe and notify. What I observe is that a whole lot of people in the body of Christ are getting seriously distracted, and sometimes even disturbed by evil plots and conspiracies of the powerful elite.
If this time spent upon such matters is not growing us toward Yeshua our Saviour, then it is time badly spent.
If these powerful elite are evil, are we praying for their souls? If they are of the devil, why are we giving them time?
“Resist the devil and he will flee” James writes. But I don’t observe the people I’m observing as resisting, but rather they seem to be dwelling upon the evil, sharing it — which is gossip — and being antagonised by or even fascinated with it. To my mind, this is a big red flag!
Evil exists, but I don’t choose to hang around it
Someone may respond to my provoking this subject by saying, “But we must pray against it.” Yes, and we must also pray for our leaders.
The devil is fascinating, the devil is deceptive, the devil will do anything to entice us away from Jesus.
How close are we to our Saviour and how far from the devil in these days? How ready and prepared are we as the Bride? At the end of these days, that is all that matters.
Bless the reader and know my heart is simply, to love Yehovah GOD, the Creator of the universe, and to encourage us all to do the same.
Shalom, Shalom.