Take a look at that....

I keep hearing those words. I don't know why they have stood out to me, but they just have. Everywhere I turn, there they are. I hear them. What does it really mean though? There is not just looking involved with those words. There is looking, analyzing, critiqueing, filtering, sorting, resolving, assimilating, accepting, endorsing, rejecting, subverting and taking action (not necessarily in that order). So many things go on with just that little idea, but really it is a big deal. Just going to take a look at that.

What do you just take a look at? What do you analyze, critique, filter, sort in your mind, resolve, assimilate, accept, endorse, reject, subvert and take action on? What kind of person do those things make you? Do they bring good through the windows to your soul, your eyes? Do they help you make your mind match the mind of God? The eyes are the lamp of the body. Do they bring in light? Or do they bring in darkness? Everything we just "take a look at" affects us.

Ever hear someone say, "I'm going to take in a movie"? Well, they are doing just that, taking in all of the ideas and thoughts portrayed on the screen. Does the person watching agree with what is on screen? Should they? Are they able to truly disregard it?

Just something I have been thinking about lately....

Still, after all of this time....

I have heard about it all of my life... There is a battle going on inside each of us between our flesh and our spirit. Today I watched something happen inside me that should have been a no-brainer. We were out at Wal-mart. We had a few things to pick up. We went through the line, paid for our stuff, rewrapped the kids, and went out to the car. We loaded everything in, and as I picked up Logan, I noticed some buttons that L-A had wanted sitting on the bottom of the cart. My first thought was that they had just fallen out of one of the bags, but when I thought about it for another minute, I realized that it had probably been missed.

Then it happened, my flesh jumped me. I thought, if I don't check the receipt, then I won't know if they got it, then i won't have to go back in. Then I checked the receipt. It wasn't there. They had missed it. I thought to myself that it was only something small, I'm not going to worry about it. I talked to L-A about it, and was thinking that I hate the line-ups at Wally and didn't want to go back in. As if I was thinking all of this. Should have been a simple solution.

I looked over at my sons. That was the thing that tipped me back into reality. What do I want them to see their father do? Should they see him do the right thing, or the wrong thing?

I went back into Wally and faced the line. I was in and out before you know it though. This was the first time in all of my years dealing with Walmart that there was not a huge line-up!

I guess I write this to draw attention to something that I observe among fathers. Many times they want their kids to grow up and be good Christians, but they are not willing to lead by example or do anything to guide them. It is like they want the kid to just stumble upon the truth.

How long will it be before a father that does not attend church runs into the kid that doesn't want to go to church to be like dad? My Dad did that. He stayed home from church when we were little. I wanted to stay home and watch Star Trek on Sunday Morning with Daddy.

Dads have to lead by example.....