On the serious side...

Just finished a Christmas novella, "The Face of Mary". Even though it was a bit predictable in places, the Lord used it to "speak" to me...actually "correct" me.
At the beginning of the novella, there was a scripture opposite the page of the first chapter and it said, " For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

Read this last night and it began to tug at my heart. Didn't realize how hard it "tugged" until this morning.
You see, at age 58, it has been too easy getting caught up in my "outward" appearance...."wrinklely" neck, face, etc. I found myself becoming too concerned about getting older, well actually with looking older....hmmmm.
I've told God that I want to age the way He wants and no other way. Hey! Moses was 120 and his "natural forces were not abated"; Caleb led an army, fought and won at age 80 and Sarah, in her nineties was so beautiful that a king desired her!

I do believe in taking care of ourselves. The Bible tells us that our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit and yes, I want to be the best temple I can be but there is a balance to all this!
Rather than getting so caught up in our personal appearance, we should be working on our hearts! And the way to do that is by feeding daily on the Word, meditating on it, choosing to reflect the heart of Christ, showing his love to all who come across our paths. Several other scriptures went along with this...Proverbs 29:25..."The fear of man brings a snare..." being afraid of how people look at me, receive me...that attitude ensnares me, traps me and I could never be "good enough or pretty enough" for man. That's a "no win" situation!
Galatians 1:10b "...do I seek to please men?"
All I need to do is please God and how do I do that? By first receiving His most precious Gift-Jesus and developing a relationship with Him, by taking Him at His Word, spending time with Him, spending time in the Word allowing it to transform me, changing me into the image of Christ.

With His help I can change. I can enjoy the "journey" that I am on and work on what's truly important!