lemonade

The Single Wrapped Cursing and Blessing

/ insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

sweet_sourSweet and Sour or bitter and sweet, some polar opposites of life are single wrapped and served for your pleasure.  Too much of one ruins the other, but without the correct mix you are left with something that is bland and tasteless.

If a glass of lemonade was all lemon and no sugar, it would be much too sour.  If it was just a squeeze of lemon and two cups of sugar, it would be far too sweet.  The same is true with life in general:  You need to get the right blend or you’ll be mixed up but not balanced.

How balanced is your life when it comes to technology?  I’m a news-hound, so I watch it on TV, and read it on the internet, and I enjoy watching sports on TV.  I also have a Kindle Fire, and download books to it for reading.  But, it’s possible to spend too much time with technological gadgets and too little time with God.

A disciplined life is an essential.  Peter said that a person should “be disciplined and stay on guard. Your enemy the devil is prowling around outside like a roaring lion, just waiting and hoping for the chance to devour someone (I Peter 5).”

Is your life balanced or have you left the door open to roaring lion?  Are listening more to Hollywood or the Holy Word?  In your life, which of the two is the powerless microphone or a powerful megaphone?

While this is an important question for adults, it is even more serious when it comes to our children.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that there should be no screens in kids rooms, including televisions, video games, and mobile devices; and no screen time for children under 2 years of age.

  • The AAP has reported that the average 8 to 10 year old spends nearly 8 hours a day using media and teens spend more than 11 hours a day.
  • The Pew Research Internet Report reports that 78% of teens have a handheld device and 97% use the internet.

This can be good, but it can also be bad.  I think there is a correlation between some societal problems and the proliferation of technology.  Focus on the Family has reported that the average at which a child is introduced to pornography has dropped to 8 years old.caged_lion_1397649c

Sweet and sour or bitter and sweet—is your life full of the enticing, the entertaining, or the educational.  Who is controlling the gateway to the eyes and ears of your family?  Is the roaring lion in the cage or is he running loose?

Pits, Peaches, and Perspective

/ insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

ImJustPeachyThe last time I was in Kansas City, I made a stop at Trader Joe’s.  I sampled some delicious grapes, and they were so tasty I decided to buy a cluster.  The quality of the grapes influenced my decision to buy some nearby peaches:  Bad decision.  There was nothing to savor in the way of flavor.

In retaliation for the tasteless peaches, I could have launched a tirade on Facebook, and Trader Joe’s would have received their just desserts.  Instead, I asked my wife to use the peaches for just dessert and make a cobbler.

Unfortunately, life is full of not-so-peachy moments.  Because Paul experienced many of these times, I often look to him for advice:  “We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!” ~The Message

One of the defining characteristics of Paul’s life was his ability to make lemonade out of his many lemon-like trials: “Five times I have withstood thirty-nine lashes from Jewish authorities, three times I was battered with rods, once I was almost stoned to death, three times I was shipwrecked, and I spent one day and night adrift on the sea (2 Corinthians 11:24-25).”

Here’s the lemonade:  “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” ~The Message

If you go through life just focusing on the sourness of the pits and the trials, you’ll never notice the abundance of sweet fruit.  Paul said the pain of the here and now is manageable when you remember to frame it in the pleasure of the there and then or the “lavish celebration” God has prepared for you.