Slow Fade

By: Melissa Baker

There is an old children's song that says "be careful little eyes what you see, oh be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father up above is looking down in love, oh be careful little eyes what you see." The song goes on to say little ears, little hands, little feet, etc. It may sound silly, but we as adults, need to listen to that song often, as a reminder that we need to be careful what we let in. The world is constantly trying to get into our mind, heart and spirit. If we are not careful, little by little, the world will make its way in completely and consume our whole being. We will slowly fade into what the world wants us to be instead of what God wants us to be. We will slowly be filled up with worldly things instead of Godly things. We will slowly be filled with hate, anger, resentment, and bitterness. It will be a slow fade.

But as we look back at our lives, we will see how this slow fade took place, little by little. For instance, you get busy so you skip your daily Bible reading. You wake up late and forget to pray before starting your day. You go throughout your day, not even thinking of God, let alone thanking him for your blessings. Before you know it, you will realize just how much you have been missing out on your time with God. Putting busy schedules, activities, sleep and other things before spending time with God, is a disaster waiting to happen. It's easy to skip a day here or there, but before you know it, you haven't read your Bible all week. Then that becomes all month. It's a slow fade.

Or how about our bad habits or not so great choices, that lead to addiction. You tell yourself, it will be ok, I'll just do it once. Then that one time turns into a couple times. Then it becomes a full blown addiction and you didn't even realize it. The enemy now has a hold on you. And you are stuck! That one bad choice, that one look, that one drink, led to the biggest mistake of your life that may cost you everything. Everytime you partake in this addiction, you don't realize how much of your life it consumes. It's a slow fade.

Casting Crowns has a song called "Slow Fade". It is mostly dealing with marriage issues, but it really paints the picture of how a christian can easily fade away into the world. If we are not careful, we will not only live IN the world, but we will become OF the world. We will drown ourselves in our own sin! We have to be intentional about protecting what comes in our minds, hearts and bodies. Our bodies are the Lord's temple, and we should treat it as such. The Holy Spirit has to have a pleasant and Godly place to live inside of us. So I encourage you, take a look at your life. Take a look at your activities, hobbies, etc. and be aware of what or who you let in, to prevent another slow fade.