The Mind

Genesis 13 Then Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt...So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

Normally I try to stay away from the mall. It's crowded. It's noisy. It' s expensive. But mostly it makes me very unhappy. I see all of the things that I do not have. No leather sofa. No Coach purse. No i phone. No expensive food processor. Suddenly strange feelings start to fill my heart. What could I do to attain these treasures? And without realizing it, my body begins to follow a pathway paved in my mind. A yellow brick road to the destination of dreams. I would be happy if I had this...achieved this....owned this.....looked like this. I would be more efficient, savvy, beautiful. I would become like....Lot.

Like us, Lot was given free will and with that he followed the beautiful things that his eyes could see and moved his tent right up the edge of a well watered and wicked city and, if you know the rest of the story, it isn't long before Lot has firmly established himself within the city of Sodom itself. It is such a short journey from the eye to the mind to the hands and feet.

So maybe it is true, that old children's song...O be careful little eyes what you see.

The mind is a powerful motivator and is well trained to follow instruction. If I tell my mind to move my hand, it will. Just by conscious thought alone. It can process millions of pieces of data instantaneously. So it stands to reason that the things I covet with my eyes are transferred to my brain and it begins to form a plan to give to me those desires. Amazing. And in some cases, like Lot's, catastrophic.

I, like all people, love beautiful things. So does our heavenly Father. We only have to look at nature to see God's love of beauty. The problem with us is that in this fallen state in which we live, we lack self control and have a skewed idea of beauty, at times. So maybe the story of Lot can teach me this....maybe there is something to the saying, You are what you eat. Or you become what you covet.

Father I find a principle in my life...The more I am with you, the more like you I become. The opposite is also true. Remind me that my eyes are the windows into my mind. Remind me to set my eyes and my mind on You and that by doing that I will never find my tent pitched in Sodom.