What Are You Becoming?

12 Oct

“What we think, we become.”  ~ Buddha

I’m a big guy.  I know it.  For me, “diet” is a four letter word.  So, I am sure that you will not be surprised at all when I tell you that the first thing I thought when I saw this quote from Buddha is, “You are what you eat.”  I mean, really.  How many times have we heard that in our lives, especially when teachers or parents try to get us to eat healthy.  You are what you eat.  If you eat a lot of food and fatty food you can expect to put on a lot of fat.  If you eat healthy, you can expect to look more healthy.

As you are what you eat, “What we think, we become.”  This is just as true.  There are many life coaches who tell their clients to imagine their days.  They tell their clients to plot out the course of the day in their minds and to follow that course without swerving.  That way, they can become what they plan.

These thoughts fit in just as well in our spiritual lives.  If we “think” Jesus, we will become more like Him.  I know that there was a fad several years ago with the phrase “What Would Jesus Do” (WWJD).  The initials appeared on all sorts of things.  It was good to keep that in the front of our minds because we would, hopefully, be kinder, gentler, and more forgiving than if we were acting on our own.  Placing Jesus front and center in our thoughts can help us to become more like Him.

The world does not like that message and it would refute it.  The world would want us to concern ourselves only with the fame and fortune that it promises to bring.  However, we know that the promises of the world, as elaborate and grand as they might be, are empty, hollow promises.  The world can never deliver on its promises.  All it can do is distract us from pursuing the Lord.

Stick to following the path that leads to the Kingdom.  It may be more arduous than taking the path of the world but it leads to something true, good, and wholesome.  And it leads to something eternal as well.

FAITH ACTION:  Make every intention to keep the Lord front and center of your thoughts today so that you may become more like Him.