Be Selective

Disregard of our physical life may affect our spiritual well-being, for what goes on in the body greatly influences, though it does not control, what goes on in the soul and spirit.

My suggestion in relation to this physical aspect of our lives is this: discipline your times of rest and recreation. Some recreations do not recreate; rather, they exhaust one. They leave one morally and spiritually flabby and unfit. I find that after watching some television programs, I have been challenged or lifted, but others leave me feeling inwardly ravished. The delicacies of life seem somehow to have been invaded, the finest flowers of the spirit trampled on, and one comes out drooping. I am learning to be more selective in my recreations. One should never expose oneself to a film or television program that is likely to leave one spiritually or morally depleted—not if you value the higher values. It is like allowing pigs into your parlor.

The same can be said of other recreations. Some pieces of literature can leave you with a sense of moral and spiritual exhaustion. Don’t fall for the idea that one has to read everything that comes to hand in order to understand life. This is where many of our Christian young people need help. Does one have to wallow in a mud-hole in order to understand filth? Does a doctor have to take germs into his own body in order to understand how they function? Recreation is extremely important to help us stay spiritually fresh, but we need to make sure our recreations really recreate.

Further Study

Heb 4:1-11; Ex 33:14; Mt 11:29

What are we invited to enter into?

What does this mean in practical terms?