Date: 5/12/2009
Author: Devin Pickard
Title: Facelift
I recently read that Americans spend over $14 billion a year on cosmetic surgeries of various kinds. Some of those procedures are based on necessity, like those who have been injured in some type of accident, while on the other end of the spectrum some are trying to improve the hand, or foot, or face that has been dealt out by mother nature. I even saw on the news the other day a story about a woman who had been given the world's first face transplant. Talk about changing your looks.....
As I have mentioned here before, our local town square is currently getting quite the face lift.....new sidewalks have been constructed, elegant-looking street lamps have been installed, sod has been laid, and by in large, it just doesn't look like the same place at all. Even as I write, new asphalt is being laid down and two new stop lights are being prepared to be hung. I truly believe these improvements are going to be a welcome addition to our fair city and ones that we can all be extremely proud of.
As you read above, we sure spend a lot of money on trying to improve our outward appearance. It got me to thinking about how much effort some of us need to spend on an “inward face lift”. For the most part, these types of changes do not require deep pockets. Fact of the matter is, these changes generally cost us no money at all. But, that is not to say there is no cost involved. Internal face lifts require diligence, determination and a great deal of discipline. They can often bring about a certain amount of uneasiness, anxiety, and times of uncomfort. As the old saying goes, “if it were easy, everyone would be doing it”. I guess that's why we see so very few actually trying to change the eternal part of themselves.....it's just too hard to leave the broad way and begin walking down that narrow path.
We are told in the Bible to “seek God's kingdom first” (Matthew 6:33), and in so doing, we will receive all the needful things of life. When one seeks those Godly things first, it requires a certain amount of fleshly suppression, which is by no means easy. The Apostle Paul acknowledges this difficulty in Romans 7:14-25. He says the things he knows he shouldn't do, he finds himself doing. And, the things he knows he should do, he seldom finds himself getting done. It seems to me that Paul was a whole lot like the rest of us. He quickly learned that, even as a saved individual, our insides primarily dictate what happens on the outside. So therefore, if we want our outsides (actions) to be better, then we must first work on the inward being. And the good news is this.....it will not require large sums of money or a doctor's appointment. Anyway, the Great Physicians door is always open.
Go the extra mile - Devin