In my childhood my ears were amazing. I mean they are still pretty awesome and everything, but in my childhood, man they were good. They could hear a bag of sweets being opened from two miles away, while simultaneously ignoring a request to complete a chore issued from less than two metres. I know what you’re thinking – gifted child. And you’d be right, unless you spoke to my parents.
If you ask my wife Anna she might claim I still suffer from selective hearing, especially when the vacuuming needs doing or the dishwasher needs emptying. Personally I don’t sweat it, I’m more concerned with my worrying case of selective thinking. You know what I mean? The kind of thinking where I push to the back of my mind all the stuff I don’t want to think about, be that the questions about God I simply have no answer for, or choosing to ignore the standards I know I should be implementing in my life.
Because thinking about them is only half the story. Doing them is the other bit. Maybe that’s why I disengage the brain so frequently – it’s easier not to get depressed by thinking about all the things I should be doing. It’s easier to distract myself in a world full of five minute fads and constant noise.
Philippians 4:8-9 ‘Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.’ (The Message)
Jesus certainly knew what He was saying when He told us to love Him with all of our hearts, our bodies and our minds.
