A LAW OF THE MIND
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see....Those who make them will be like them. Ps. 115:4-8, N.I.V.
Recent government-sponsored research is tending to verify that the more than eighteen thousand hours of television viewing that the average youth does before he graduates from high school really is having an impact upon his value system. Particularly, certain temperament types who behold a heavy fare of tele-violence are less shocked to see it in real life and are more prone to enter into it themselves.
This research confirms a principle expressed in a positive manner some nineteen hundred years ago by the apostle Paul. By beholding Christ, he said, we become transformed into His likeness. (See 2 Cor. 3:18.) That is, the mind gradually embraces the values, attitudes, even the expressions, of that which one chooses to behold. It becomes like that which one is accustomed to love or reverence. This powerful law of the mind can readily be used to advantage by those who long to be like Jesus. It is the strongest argument in favor of regular time spent in private devotions, in meditation upon the life and teachings of Jesus.
But it is a law of the mind that still works with equal force when one shifts attention away from Christ and toward the idols of this world. David spoke of the mindless, unresponsive, inert qualities of idols his people were worshipping; then he warned them with certainty that they would soon become just like those idols. They would become incapable of responding to important moral-choice situations with decisiveness and direction. They would, though alive, become ineffective in living.
Satan is no fool. He understands this principle and uses it constantly to his advantage. He dresses up the value system of his kingdom in the most dramatic, attention-grabbing, emotion-jolting form that our high-powered media can transmit. He makes it continuously available, even while we are out walking. He portrays it as socially appealing, "fun to do with our friends." Then he builds a whole subculture around the worship of the media heroes that--like a black hole--draws everything into it.
Since our every waking moment is spent in some type of beholding, and thus in becoming, how carefully we must choose. The kind of persons we become will determine not only our effectiveness here but our eternal destiny as well.
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see....Those who make them will be like them. Ps. 115:4-8, N.I.V.
Recent government-sponsored research is tending to verify that the more than eighteen thousand hours of television viewing that the average youth does before he graduates from high school really is having an impact upon his value system. Particularly, certain temperament types who behold a heavy fare of tele-violence are less shocked to see it in real life and are more prone to enter into it themselves.
This research confirms a principle expressed in a positive manner some nineteen hundred years ago by the apostle Paul. By beholding Christ, he said, we become transformed into His likeness. (See 2 Cor. 3:18.) That is, the mind gradually embraces the values, attitudes, even the expressions, of that which one chooses to behold. It becomes like that which one is accustomed to love or reverence. This powerful law of the mind can readily be used to advantage by those who long to be like Jesus. It is the strongest argument in favor of regular time spent in private devotions, in meditation upon the life and teachings of Jesus.
But it is a law of the mind that still works with equal force when one shifts attention away from Christ and toward the idols of this world. David spoke of the mindless, unresponsive, inert qualities of idols his people were worshipping; then he warned them with certainty that they would soon become just like those idols. They would become incapable of responding to important moral-choice situations with decisiveness and direction. They would, though alive, become ineffective in living.
Satan is no fool. He understands this principle and uses it constantly to his advantage. He dresses up the value system of his kingdom in the most dramatic, attention-grabbing, emotion-jolting form that our high-powered media can transmit. He makes it continuously available, even while we are out walking. He portrays it as socially appealing, "fun to do with our friends." Then he builds a whole subculture around the worship of the media heroes that--like a black hole--draws everything into it.
Since our every waking moment is spent in some type of beholding, and thus in becoming, how carefully we must choose. The kind of persons we become will determine not only our effectiveness here but our eternal destiny as well.
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