Joshua 1:8
‘Keep this book of the law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful’. (NIV)
The other day some marketer slipped a flier for subway sandwiches under our door. For some reason, I kept the flier even though I had no intention of eating or buying sandwiches. There should be a law against making fliers so attractive. Those subs (as they are called) look soooo good. I find that I stop to stare and drool quite unconsciously whenever I walk past the flier displayed prominently on my kitchen counter. . I’ve wondered, should I try to make one just like that or should I just buy one? And this is all without me even consciously thinking these thoughts. I think those subs have shown up in my dreams a couple of times too.
Or the other night when I had to stand up and find jollof rice because I couldn’t resist all those pictures of jollof rice on the internet I saw while helping my daughter with her homework. Does this happen to you as well?
No, I’m not a food junkie. I just seem to gravitate towards what I put in front of me all the time. I think you do too. In fact, I suspect we all do. God must have had this in mind, when He asked us to keep His word before us all the time.
I’m thinking about this principle and wondering, is there a way I can be more strategic about this? Like, using this principle to improve me? We all should be in a daily effort to improve ourselves and strengthen the weak links in our character. Could what you’re looking at all the time, or thinking about all time be hurting you?
I find that when I keep thinking about the people who have hurt me in the past, how they did it and how it made me feel, the wounds feel fresh all over again and it’s very hard to remember that I’d promised God to let it all go.
It’s all different if its God’s word or God’s opinion of us we keep before our eyes and heart at all times. God’s word brings peace, comfort, hope and encouragement. My personal favourite of recent is Proverbs 31:10 – I’m a wife of noble character and I’m worth much more than jewels. My, I am precious! In between thoughts of sandwiches and all else that the daily grind of life brings, I’m trying to make an effort to roll this over in my mind over and over and over again.
So over to you. What are you going to be thinking about?