What's your influencer...

Have you considered what influences you daily? Is it the news of the day? Today (Friday) all of the buzz is about the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the health care bill passed by congress. Each media outlet wants to tell us what it will mean and how it will play out in days and week and years to come. It is a powerful attention grabber as a subject and will influence many. What about you how much does the latest topic in the media influence you day to day or your world view overall? What about your feelings?

Get up today and you feel bad. How does that influence your day? Or at least your outlook for the day? Usually, feeling bad makes for a bad day! Does it have to? Feelings are fickle things. I may feel bad now but in a few moments or hours I could feel worse or I could feel great. Depending upon how I allow that to influence me my outlook on the day and life in general could go from the dumpster to the heavens in moments and then back again to the dumpster. What is my influencer? What about opinions!

Everybody’s got one whether they know what they are talking about or not. Usually the open their mouth and prove they have no idea what they are talking about. I learned a phrase “Opinions are like rear ends. Everybody’s got one and most of the time we need to sit on them.” It is rampant this opinion thing. You can blog about anything and don’t have to know anything about what you blog about. If you are influenced greatly buy the opinions of others you may get angry with their I-don’t-know-what-I-am-talking-about opinion. I mean really how much influence should that have over you? Really? There is only one opinion that matters really.

The opinion of God is all that matters. If you are with Jesus then God has a GREAT opinion of you. You are a joint heir with Jesus to all of the riches and glory of heaven through grace. Who you will be is set in the foundations of the throne of God again because of Jesus. God’s opinion does not change. It is not fickle based on your behavior. Sure you and I disappoint him, but we are still his children through Jesus our savior. How do you feel about that?

You feelings on the subject or any subject don’t really matter when we trust God and His opinion. If we consider our identities in the end (we will be like Jesus) are set, then the time we are in now is designed to shape us to the image of Christ the perfection of creation in righteousness, majesty and holiness. That could be our influence.

It is a choice we make almost every minute of what we allow to influence us. Do we choose the things that last for an eternity or those that last for but a brief while like smoke and fog?

² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 NIV 1984       

In HIS Service and Yours,

The Rev