There is a saying: “Man is the master of his own destiny.” But there are many things that influence people.
Technology has developed so much if you think of internet, smart phones and so on, and this development has also an effect on our behaviour - people are often not connecting so much with others anymore as before. Many things can take up our time and thoughts, but how should we think about these things?
I recently read something which caused me to look differently at the world I live in.
“We have an inner life and inner enemies to conquer, battle and destroy. The enemies of our inner life are those forces that want to scatter our thoughts by focusing our attention on external things. These enemies are the various desires that seek to distract our concentration by causing our thoughts to cling to outward things, things that will pass away. This is destruction: the things to which the heart was attached pass away while the person himself, who is an eternal being, is filled with nothing but emptiness when he should have been filled with God Himself. That is why it is so very important that we allow God to draw our minds away from everything that is external – the things that will pass away – and turn our focus inward to the source of life that lives forever, even as we ourselves will live forever. Then joy and unspeakable peace can fill us, beginning in this time on earth and continuing into the unknown eternities. May the Lord enable us for this.” (*)
The spirit of the times or the Holy Spirit
This spirit which wants to bind our thoughts and minds to outward things is the spirit of the times. You walk or live in this spirit when you let the world guide and lead you; this is the spirit who controls the people who disobey God (Ephesians 2:2). The opposite is the Holy Spirit, through whom God speaks to all people. The spirit of the times works directly against the Holy Spirit and wants to fill us with earthly things – instead of us being filled with God’s Spirit.
We see this in the world today where many young people struggle to concentrate – they are constantly looking for entertainment, and the teachers struggle to hold their attention. But as a Christian, I must be aware of what spirit I fill myself with, and what spirit motivates my actions.
“I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful. I have the freedom to do anything, but I won’t be controlled by anything.” 1 Corinthians 6:12 (CEB).
God always has something to say to me through the Holy Spirit. He has the recipe for a happy life if I will just listen to His voice and obey. But then I need to be quiet and listen closely, because it always feels easier to give in to the desire for constant entertainment.
A conscious focus on the inner life
There is so much more than the visible world that most people see and hear. There is an invisible world, which can be clearly recognised by believers. (Hebrews 11:1.) They see that the spirit of the times wants to replace joy with a feeling of emptiness, while the Holy Spirit will help us to get the same virtues that Jesus had. This is what God wants me to spend my life on. If I focus on my inner life rather than the outward, then instead of seeking worldly pleasures which don’t last long, I want to do those things that have eternal value.
“Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day,” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NCV). When I allow the Holy Spirit to lead me throughout my day, and I do what God works in me, then each day I get more of the fruit of the Spirit in my inner man. Jealousy and pride are replaced with goodness, mercy, and patience; and these virtues can become part of me. These are eternal values that are part of my spirit, not my temporal earthly body.
I should prioritise filling myself with God’s word – to fill myself with words that are a help in my daily life and help me focus on my eternal destiny rather than on other more or less meaningless activities. Then everything I do, is done with eternity in mind.
What an exciting life to live of constant growth!