I once heard an older woman tell me, “The eyes are the window to your soul”. After dealing with so much in my life, that is a quote I’ve held onto for a few years. But like most motivational quotes, they eventually lose their power if they aren’t evenly applied to life’s trials and tribulations.
So last night, I was watching a video on YouTube and the speaker was talking about distractions and things and I got really inspired by this simple quote… “Something is always preaching to you”. It made me think. With all the consumption of media, news, and cat videos, exactly how much of that affects us?
Consider a diet. For years now, I’ve been passionate about losing weight and getting healthy. I’ve made good progress this year because I’ve been working out and participated in my church’s 21 Day Fast. During this fast, we observed a diet surrounding of water, fruits, veggies, and various 100% Whole Grain items. The combination of that and working out burned off 15 pounds. The normal fast food and junk food snacks were not apart of my diet and had no bearing on the outer appearance of my body; to summarize, my body was fueled by a different grade and it was beneficial to my overall health and wellness.
If you want to be closer to God and you desire to have a relationship with God, your life has to change. The closer you get to God, you’re almost assured to lose friends due to your devotion to do what’s right. So as long as your striving to get closer to God, you are certainly praying more, reading your Bible, and fasting. So what’s preaching to you when you’re not listening, praying, reading and fasting? You’re being preached to by something else.
No matter what type of learner you are, we all have a process of obtaining and breaking down information that’s presented to us. If you follow United States politics and disagree with most of what is being presented, it can have a major effect on your mode. If you’re happy about the course of politics, your feelings are much different. If you are dealing with a bad break-up (or even a sad one), music can help your mourn or move on.
The point is simple. Anything that can be consumed through the window to our soul has a direct effect on our lives. Who we are, what we’ve experienced, and what we allow to dwell within us determine our levels of effectiveness in the earth. If everything that pours into you is negative, then you shouldn’t be shocked when you consider how everything bothers you. If you live a life, apart from God, but claim to be a child of God, you’ll miss out on the connection to receive what God has for you and the plan for your life. We cannot waste time any longer on things that don’t give live and produce wisdom and knowledge within us. So if I have to turn off the TV, Social Media, and Radio to dig into my Bible, so be it. At the end of the day, I want to be just and right… standing in front of God with the assurance that He will open his arms and receive me.
Remember, your eyes are the window to your soul.