Just ask the Cat

How do we fight the good fight to be holy?  How do we train ourselves to be godly?  Do we just strap on our boots and pull ourselves up and do it?  We've all found that it is impossible to do in our own strength.  It is a thought-by-thought battle.  Which also means it is a battle of input.  I must watch what I watch, what I listen to, and read…in other words I have to make sure that what is being imputed into my mind is helping me fight and not feeding my flesh.

I’ve noticed that many Jesus followers, me included, tend to barrel through life like my dogs chasing a squirrel.  I stand at the door, say something like “get the squirrel,” and they start jumping up and down begging me to open the door…as soon as I open it they come out like water through a broken dam.

But my youngest has a cat, it is her cat and nobody else’s…just ask the cat!, who is cleverly named Meow Meow.  When Meow Meow leaves the house…she leaves with caution, every step is examined, everything new or old is carefully studied.  I watched her examining pine straw for about 3 minutes…just smelled it, walked around it, and even tasted it, before she moved on…that is how we should approach every aspect of our lives!

It really is a battle, but the battle is for our mind.  Every social media video is vying for our endorphins; every comment is pulling for our likes.  Advertising is designed to draw us to the product, and the enemy is fighting for our mind.

Could we take time to ask God about everything we do mindlessly.  I found myself wasting a lot of time on Facebook videos…I know I can’t get to the bottom, but I keep spelunking that bottomless cavern.  God convicted me about the time I spent there instead of in His presence.  That was the beginning of my battle for thought-by-thought warfare.  Start there…what is the go-to of your down time?  What draws your attention?  Look at the screen time data on your phone…how many times do you pick it up a day?  How much time are you on Social Media? Nothing is harmless…that’s my point.  Nothing is harmless and nothing is neutral.  Every thought, every word, every action is a part of the battle we enter the moment we are born again.