Scripture
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
~Colossians 3:2, NIV
Quote
The human mind–like nature itself–abhors a vacuum.
~Billy Graham {Wisdom for Each Day, p.43}
A common greeting these days is “What’s up?” In the old days it was “What is on your mind?” There is always something on our mind and as humans, it is impossible for us to think two thoughts at the same time but I admit, we can have a multitude of things on our minds. It is easy and very human to let the cares of this world choke out the heavenly mindset. Many if not most Americans are caught up in trivial pursuits and they refuse to think about things that are significant. What is my purpose in Life? What happens after I die? Is there any hope for the world we live it? What is temporal and what is eternal? These are the things that Jacob thought about but Esau dismissed such thoughts. Esau focused on the present. He is the father of hedonism–he lived for pleasure. He never gave God a thought.
The point is–something is on your mind. If we are not living in the Word and our minds focused on Christ and His truth, something else will take His place. We could become like the rich fool in Luke 12–He was obsessed with himself and his wealth. There was no place for God or others in his thoughts. Some turn to religion which is just one step up from the mindset of the fool. The religious think about God but their view of Him is skewed. The religionist is vain enough to think he or she can please God with the fruit of their own labor {like Cain}. In these days, many turn to drugs they alter the state of the mind. I know why drugs are a temptation: we all want peace and rest for out minds. We want to escape the anxiety of the moment and drugs give us a temporary escape. Years ago when Hartselle had a hospital, I went there with a kidney stone of something and they gave me a shot of demerol. I got immediate relief and went home and slept for 30 hours. Don’t get excited, they don’t use demerol any longer due to side effects. I went from feeling really bad to really good in a matter of seconds. Who wants to hurt; who wants to feel bad?
You and I know that money, religion, or drugs is not the answer. Drugs is a pit that leads to hell and so is religion. So take Paul’s advice and set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. When I was a child there was an adage you heard repeated often…That person is so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good…You don’t hear anymore. Paul said in Philippians four, Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. When you are thinking about good things that are excellent and worthy of praise, you are thinking about heaven.
Extra
John and I had a blast yesterday and we caught the limit. Matter of fact it was almost 10:00 pm when I got home. It took an hour or better to clean the fish. Catching fish is fun, cleaning them is work. It was the first time I have been fishing when and expert in 30 years and I loved every minute. It is a beautiful late East of Cullman, near Holly Pond. John has a dream: a landslide this fall with the Republicans taking the House, super Majority in the Senate, impeaching Biden and Harris and making the new speaker of the house {a Republican} president. We did see a couple of democrats fishing in the lake. They were in a rented row boat. They got into a bed of bream and was catching one after the other. One of them said, “We need to mark the spot.” The other one took out a knife and began whittling a notch in the side of the boat. The first one corrected him, “You idiot, you can’t mark the spot by notching the boat; we may not get this boat next time.” How many democrats does it take to lower taxes? We don’t know, it has never been done. How many does it take to increase taxes? A slim majority.
Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.