Off and on today I've been reflecting on at what point do our lives, the lives of the Christian, take a turn to where we walk away from the blessings that God has given us, to seek out things the devil is telling us will make us happier?
I believe for each individual person that point is at a different place. However, we all have a point. We are all flesh and blood. We are all fallible.
Even during our strongest relationship with the Father, we are only a moment from that point.
Have you ever spent so much time focusing on one thing that the rest of the world just seems to fly by unnoticed? I have...more recently on Facebook, I'm afraid. lol That's the way it should be with the Lord. We must stay focused on Him. So focused that the world has no pull on our mind. So focused that the world has no hold on us.
My daddy taught a lesson when I was a teen called The Four "Ls" It all begins with our eyes and what we are looking at.
First we Look. There's nothing wrong with looking, right? Sometimes we can't HELP what we see. After all, God created our eyes to see. To look. It's what we do after we look that makes a difference in what will happen in our lives and in our relationship with God and those around us.
But then we Linger...there's a danger in that lingering. When Joseph was being enticed by Potiphar's wife, he didn't linger. He RAN AWAY! He got out of there! He could have lingered. What do you think would have happened if he had? Probably the same thing that happened to David when he looked on Bathsheba and then lingered.
David began to Lust. When we lust after something is when we are at our weakest and usually end up giving in to the things that would give us a sense of pleasure. "...joy in sin for a season."
For a season....
Every season ends and moves on to another. Which is the last "L." We Lose.
We lose our families, our friends, our jobs. We begin to reflect on all of the things God has given us, only to find we have lost everything because we looked, we lingered, and we lusted.
I think of the Sunday school song that says, "Oh be careful little eyes what you see, oh be careful little eyes what you see, For the Father up above is looking down in love, oh be careful little eyes what you see."
How can we be careful about what we see? By keeping our mind's eye and our heart's eye on Higher things.
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
We should challenge ourselves daily to think on these things. To stay focused on the good things. To LOOK UP!
We should ask ourselves:
Where am I looking?
Am I lingering?
Am I lusting?
What am I about to lose?
