Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:38
As we get older, there are times when we start seeing gray hair show up in our previously gray-free lives. First off, I want to make it clear that there is nothing wrong with gray hair. I always say that gray hair is wisdom. The more you get of it, the more wisdom you have. Go with it; it makes me feel better. Unfortunately, my children don’t always have the same thought process as I do.
There was one morning that we were catching up on our current events. I was sitting at the computer with my two boys standing slightly behind me. I was immersed in learning about the world around us, which I thought the boys were too. However, all of a sudden I yelped and jumped! What had just happened? I looked back at the boys, and the oldest is holding up a strand of gray hair like it was some kind of trophy. Yep, sure enough he had decided to pluck it right out of my head! He actually seemed a bit dumbfounded at why I wouldn’t want him to do that. Right then, for my own pain-free existence, I decided it was in my best interest to use a bit of dye. It was either that or I might have started losing my hair at a rapid pace, and not because it was falling out! After getting my hair dyed, I have to go straight home because my forehead absorbs as much of that dye as my hair does. It takes a bit of scrubbing and time to get it clean again.
It makes me think about a Bible lesson the boys did. After drawing a large heart with a pen towards the bottom of a paper towel, several small ones were drawn above it. The boys colored the large heart using a red marker. Then, they put the bottom of the paper towel in a small bowl of water. As the paper towel absorbed the water, the red from the large heart colored the small hearts! They learned that when God fills our hearts with love, His love will overflow from our hearts and spread to others.
We too often forget that we can very easily absorb what is going on in the world around us. That could be someone else’s thoughts or even their energy. Whether it is positive or negative, we might find ourselves taking on what they’re projecting. It takes a lot of scrubbing and time to remove it too!
Be careful what you are allowing into your heart today. You might absorb something that you don’t want to let in. After it’s in there, it will overflow and be absorbed by your loved ones, coming out of them. We tend to be more protective of our children than ourselves. So remember to be on guard, if not for you, do it for them. By protecting your heart, you’re letting it be filled with God’s love that will overflow from your heart and spread to someone else. We need more of that in the world around us!
