Under the Influence

A friend of mine began a line of thought entitled "Under the Influence". She was getting us to think what we were under the influence of. Most people think of people being under the influence of alcohol or drugs or the like. But in all actuality we are ALL under the influence of something. Some are under the influence of food, some type of entertainment (i.e. video games, sports, television, movies, music, etc.), we are ALL under the influence of ourselves (unfortunately).

It is funny that she began this discussion this week, as I had just made some changes in my "areas of influence". I felt impressed by God (after reading a blog post by Ann Voskamp at Holy Experience) that I needed to begin reading my Bible more, thus putting me under God's influence more. We feed our bodies at least three times a day and usually read God's Word once per day, if that. Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So, on Monday, we began reading the Bible after each meal. We read one chapter from Proverbs for breakfast, work on scripture memory and catechism and spend time in prayer. For lunch, we read 1-3 chapters in an Old Testament or New Testament book, again we work on scripture memory, catechism and prayer. For dinner, we read one chapter from one of the books of Wisdom (minus the book of Proverbs, since we are reading it for breakfast), we again work on scripture memory, catechism and prayer.

We also begin our school day with a time of Worship. We recite/read the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)-we read this as a reminder that it is my job, as a parent, to train my children in the Lord DAILY, ALL DAY LONG; the 10 Commandments-to remind us what God expects of us, Jesus said if you love me you will keep my commandments; and Ephesians 6:10-18 (the full armor of God)-we want to be prepared EVERY day to be strong in the Lord, so we must be fully equipped to do just that. We then sing a few hymns and do a Bible study. Throughout the rest of the day we play songs of praise and scripture verses put to music (when it the ladies are done with their book work).

So you see, we are attempting to put ourselves "Under the Influence" of God. What are you under the influence of?