Give ear to my words...

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation…My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” ~Ps. 5:1,3

Nick,

Throughout the Psalms, we see a pattern: every Psalm is directed to God. The whole Bible, in fact, is one continuous story of God’s majesty, mercy, and love. In our modernized world, we are often distracted from the things of the Lord. TV and radio commercials encourage us to buy things to improve our lives; newspapers and magazines highlight the scandals and sin of our culture; internet chat groups entice us to spend more time looking at a computer screen and less time enjoying actual fellowship and encouragement from believers. Books are also written to satisfy our fleshly lusts. For instance, what good is there in mystery novels? There is never anything God- glorifying behavior, but only death: a constant reminder of Man’s sin and the consequence of it. Self-help books do not point to God as the solution to our troubles, but rather to our own selves. Even supposedly Christian books contain a shockingly enormous amount of sensuality. I bring this all up to illustrate, and to show more clearly, the need for godly thinking and judgment. Our thoughts are always to be on the Lord. Morning prayer times and evening Bible studies are important for our spiritual growth, but we should always be questioning our actions as to whether or not they are for God’s glory.

If you watch a movie, before you even turn on the TV, you should ask, “Is what I am going to see and hear going to make me become more like Christ?” Before you pick up a book, evaluate whether it contains godly examples, whether the plot ends with the good side victorious, and whether there is God-honoring behavior. In Scripture we repeatedly see sinful man turning away from God, but God always returns victorious.

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” ~1 Cor. 10:31

So, whether you’re reading a book, playing a game, watching a movie, eating, drinking, walking down a sidewalk, etc., constantly be asking yourself whether you are glorifying God with your actions. The world needs godly men to lead; men who glorify God in all that they do. We are to be those men who take up the duty of leadership. May the Lord bless you this week.

Your brother in Christ,

Corey