Soma

For all you married folks, here’s some great thoughts reflecting God’s design for sex and how that works out practically in marriage.

I came across this quote from A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy.  It is a great summary of the fundamental nature of sin.

The natural man is a sinner because and only because he challenges God’s selfhood in relation to his own…Yet so subtle is self that scarcely anyone is conscious of its presence.  Because man is born a rebel, he is unaware that he is one.  His constant assertion of self, as far as he thinks of it at all, appears to him a perfectly normal thing.  He is willing to share himself, sometimes even to sacrifice himself for a desired end, but never to dethrone himself. No matter how far down the scale of social acceptance he may slide, he is still in his own eyes a king on a throne, and no one, not even God, can take that throne from him.  Sin has many manifestations but its essence is one.  A moral being, created to worship before the throne of God, sits on the throne of his own selfhood and from that elevated position declares, “I AM.”  That is sin in its consecrated essence.

Harper bounces around our house like the ball in a pin-ball machine.  No matter where he’s going, he’s almost always running.  And no matter where he is, he’s only there for a couple of seconds.

And he seems like an almost perfect analogy for my thought life.

Oftentimes when I sit down to think or pray, 3 minutes and 50 topics will go by before I realize that I have been completely derailed by my thoughts jumping from one thing to the next…ooo, look, a squirrel!

Pop-psychology has thankfully given me dozens of explanations/excuses for my “personality trait” so that I never have to feel guilty or seek to change.  After all, I live in a technological era, I grew up channel surfing and playing video games, Facebook did it to me, and so did my ability to web-surf; it’s the pace of the modern world, and the demands of both my job and social calendar; you know…I may as well just self-diagnose myself:

I have ADD…ooo, look, a leaf falling from…oh, no, I’ve got to go, it’s time for a meeting…I wonder if that meeting’s on tomorrow…I should look at my calendar and check…and while I’m here, when were we going to leave for vacation…I wonder if airline prices are any better…I’ll go to southwest.com…you know, while I’m here I should check Drudge Report…and espn.com…and my favorite blog…and Facebook…and…oh, no, I’M LATE!!!  Stinking ADD…well…at least it’s not my fault.

Or is it?

It’s probably time I (and you?) start actually taking responsibility for the undisciplined nature of our thought lives.  I we are honest, we will admit that most of our “explanations” are used as “excuses” and the only type of confession we’ve ever tied to our thought life is in the area of sequality.  The only reason we don’t think we can do anything about the pinball machine in our head is because we can’t easily do anything about it.  But the truth is, your thought life (whether rapid or slow) is a direct reflection of your heart.

Instead of ignoring, writing off, or explaining away the places your mind drifts to as it bounces from one thing to another, it’s time to start listening to them.  Your thoughts are a window to your heart…and most of us don’t want to take a peak because we no it’s a pretty ugly sight in side.  Your thoughts run to your desires (or “needs”) and your desires (or “needs”) are determined by what your heart worships, and what your heart worships is either fundamentally self-pleasing (idol worship) or God-pleasing (God worship).

Think about it for a second.  When was the last time your mind got side-tracked thinking about a way to please God, or focusing on a praiseworthy aspect of who He is?  If you can’ think of one…then maybe it’s time to take some time (read: MAKE some time), look in the window, and ask God to do some spring cleaning.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 139:23-24

Basically every community group (or group of friends) deals with the problem of having people who talk too much and listen too little…here’s some helpful thoughts on how to love people when their mouth is constantly open.