Hello dear
Remember that little song, “Watch your eyes watch your eyes what they see!”? Who’d ever think it had a biblical background? Consider today’s Holy Nougat
“The lamp of thy body is thine eye: when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.” Luke 11:34 ASV
So even before we consider what others see when they look into our eyes, we need to consider what we feed our souls through the visual portal.
What do we watch on the television/laptop? What video games consumes the bulk of our time and perhaps even money? What do we read? What provides visual entertainment and stimulation for us (and helps us relax)? Do we see any correlation between any of those answers and our attitudes to God, the society, our neighbors and friends, and especially our families?
Years ago I was an NCIS marathon binge watcher. I’d watch 5-6 hours without nothing the passage of time. And if the repeat was one I’d seen a few times, I’d simply switch to Law & Order SVU. I learned a lot about human behavior but one day, as I was considering what kind of mind it took to script those plots and scenarios; someone challenged me about the impact binge watching had on my mind. I realized that I was not as sensitive to news of gender based violence as before, for it had become a part of life.
But let’s ignore me and consider the background information provided about the perpetrators of mass shootings in schools. There’s usually a) incidents of feeling excluded and almost the exact sites being watched online in nature if not content. It’s the same effect with pornography, persons eventually seeking to fulfill the fantasy they view, without realizing the devastating impact that it has on their psyche.
Ironically, many of us who are content with binge watching would not readily avail ourselves to binge prayer, binge fasting or binge Bible reading. Isn’t that something?! For, we convinced ourselves that binge watching is entertainment and not quality time for edifying the spirit. (Ouch!!!!)
But we are called to renew our minds daily. And we now know that our lamp can be extinguished by the quality of ‘oil’ we place in it. On this day when the world observes efforts to eliminate violence against women, let us examine ourselves to ensure that our negative behavior isn’t impacted by what we peruse.
Blessed good morning
In Christ’s love and grace
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell
The guilty pair, bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin
Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky
Hello hello hello my dears
Thinking about the Nougat this morning sent me to the first stanza of this wonderful hymn. And, while searching for the hymn I stumbled on the story behind the hymn – the verse about the ocean (sometimes places as the last stanza) was written several centuries ago by a Jewish rabbi. It came to gentile knowledge centuries later through the scribbling of an inmate in a sanitarium. In his lucid moments he seemed to have been transfixed by God’s love. Other lines were added, including the first stanza which I sought earlier. Ultimately the lyrics and the story behind the hymn underscore the reality of today’s Holy Nougat
“Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:9 NLT
The man in the asylum was not lucid often enough to purchase God’s love or mercy. In fact, by most standards, he was unworthy.
Nor is it something negotiable by any head of state, hence underground movements where Christians face persecution for accepting the gift. It is not a toy, though many of us do treat God and the salvation offered through Christ in that manner.
Rather, salvation is a lifeline to a drowning humanity from the only One Who can get us safely to shore. Will we refuse? Accept then resist? Or allow The Savior to get us through the swells of choppy seas and ravenous creatures with limited resistance, saving our strength for when we get to shore?
Since our works can’t secure salvation, we ought to receive the gift in the Spirit it is offered … and choose life, eternal life. Will we?
Good morning
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
