Three Questions:
1.  Who is/are your role model(s)?  What
2.  Where do you fall short of walking the thoughts and the talk?
3. Who is following you and do you want them to go where you’re heading?

Last week I wrote about thinking, about being conscious and aware of what goes on in our minds.  The apostle Paul, in the letter to the Phillipians instructs us to consider those things that are true, noble, right – good things.  That’s in verse 8.  Over the past 20+ years I think I’ve quoted that verse about a thousand times more than the one immediately following.  Verse 8 is beautiful, one of my favorites.  Verse 9 is one of the most difficult and arduous things imaginable – do it.

Paul says that as we think noble thoughts we are to do noble things.  We are to put into practice, he admonishes, those things we have seen him do or heard him say. Essentially, we’re not just to think good, we are to do good, do pure, do right.  Walking what we’re talking about; walking what we are thinking about.

When you add in verse 9 it presupposes someone in our life that has contributed to who we are and how we are.  It assumes there is (was) someone we could model ourselves after, we could follow behind and learn from. Who is that person in your life?  A parent, a friend, teacher or coach?  What did they do that made them that person for you? Do those things too.

I’ll also suggest (and here it adds a bit more pressure) that there is someone following us, or that there should be, and we should be thinking, walking and doing in such a way that our “followers” benefit from it.  Your friends, co-workers, spouse, and children – even the people driving next to you on the freeway are watching where you’re going. Consider these questions:

• Husbands/Wives, do you want your wife/husband to be thinking and doing what you are thinking and doing?
• Parents, do you want your children to be where you are when they grow up?
• Would you even want the people around you to know what you’re thinking?

If not, think and DO something about it.  It may be a slow process of change but pick one thing you’re not doing that you should and try and add it into your life.  Or, take out just one thing you’re doing that you should not be doing and get rid of it.  Pick small things first and get stronger.  As your success rate increases your confidence to take on the larger dos/don’ts will too.

Show up; keep it up.  We’re talking about long term changes.  If you miss one, get back and try again.  Don’t beat yourself up over it.  That’s why it’s called practice.  Make an inventory of YOU and what you’re trying to do.  Checklist are motivating when you see progress.

Don’t forget verse 9.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. Phil. 4:8 AND 9

WORKOUT:  1.  This week spend time thinking about what you think about.  2.  Thing about these things (Phil. 4:8)

For the past couple of months I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about — stuff.  House stuff, gardening stuff, work stuff, family stuff, ocean stuff.  Not too much spiritual stuff.  Not much of the stuff that strengthens my soul just a lot of lounging on the spiritual couch.  So, now it’s the start of a new year and nothing like that turn into January to get me thinking about spirituality and soul fitness again.

TOMA
I guess one of the good things about going to church every Sunday is that you’re reminded (gently or otherwise depending on your persuasion) about that soul part of you.  Since I haven’t been attending church (you should probably ask why so I have to explain it) that at-least-once-a-week-reminder hasn’t been in place and I’ve had to try to keep it TOMA on my own.  In the marketing/business world lingo TOMA stands for Top Of Mind Awareness and it’s what commercials are designed to get from you.  When you’re hungry, McDonald’s wants you to think of a Big Mac FIRST before any other hamburger, taco or pizza.  If you do, then Mikey D’s would be at your TOMA. My life TOMA recently has been filled with stuff non-spiritual.

You are What You Think About
Gluten-free, Fat-free, free-range, sugar-free, grass-fed — the adjectives that describe the quality of our food are now increasingly entering our awareness.  That old adage “you are what you eat” is more relevant than ever with the premise being if you want to be healthier eat better food.  I can follow that for the body but what about the soul?  How do I get soul healthy, soul fit? What do I need to eat?  What pill can I take?  What book series, sermon, church/pastor, cd, should I read, listen to attend??

I have a short answer for you:  whichever, whatever or whoever helps you to keep that spiritual part of you at the highest TOMA, the longest and most consistently.  For some people that means going to church on Sunday morning and evening and mid-week fellowship groups.  For others those exercises are more distracting than focusing.

One guy I talked to recently told me that he used to spend his Sundays looking for God at church.  He said that the politics and problems in that community were so frustrating for him that he gassed up his dirt bike and has been spending his Sundays looking for, and more often meeting with, God up in the mountains on the trails.

Others find that regularly reading the bible in the morning, spending quiet times with God, listening to certain types of music before they begin their day stays with them through their day.

Use it or Lose it
Normally, the soul, the spirit, almost by definition, is intangible, that which we cannot touch, see, hear with our normal senses.  There are physical things, though, tangible things like books, music, etc., that affect the spiritual part of me, some more than others.  Certain people even help me to keep my attention on spiritual things.  If I want to be stronger spiritually, if I want my soul to be fit, I must use it, exercise it, turn it on, more often and with increasing intensity.

Where Your Attention Goes, Your Energy Flows
So, what do we think about?  Think about it.  What touches your soul?  What reaches your spirit?  Paul the Apostle, in his letter to the church at Phillippi, says

“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

This is the workout this week:  Focus our attention on such things for as long as we can, AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible). Post times and challenges and thoughts to comments.