One statement by Jesus caught my eye today as I looked at the Scripture reading. From Mark 8, Jesus tells Peter:

   “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”


   How often do I set my mind on the things of man, and not of God? 


   Every day I make my plans, for that day and the ones to follow it, in the light of what I think; What I think I need to do, what I think that someone else wants me to do, what looks like the right thing to do. In short, what I think circumstances have dealt to me and how I should respond to them.


   When I gave the 'Choices' talk in prison the other day, a lot of it was a consideration of time periods in our lives. From the past, which we can do nothing to alter, to the future which we cannot know, our actions take place in the present, which is the only time period that we can do anything about. 


   What does God want for me in the present? Those things that would bring glory to Him, those that would prepare me for service for Him and those that would show my reliance on Him. All of the above for Him and not for me.


So, how do I look toward the future with these in mind? I cannot know about tomorrow and those tomorrows that follow it, so what does my mind dwell on? Do I make plans on what I think the future may hold? Do I go through different scenarios and decide how I might handle those? Or do I live life in the present and trust that He will be there and guide me at the time? 


   I know the answers to the above, and they are easy to acknowledge, but how hard is it to keep my mind in the right gear? How hard to strive for the mind of God and not project my own thoughts into His plans?


   Perhaps pondering the answers to those questions above is a good first step on life's road, no matter where it leads.


   I pray that it is so.....