“The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear
and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.” (Psalm 19:7-9 MSG)
It’s been a few years since my favorite nearby grocery store closed. It’s gone, but not my memories of early morning shopping trips. I enjoyed beating the crowd and running into people who found the wee hours of the morning the perfect time to purchase groceries. I wasn’t the only one. I would run into WNBA stars, local civil rights leaders from times pasts, relatives of famed R&B groups, and former high school teachers that had moved up to the college level and in one case particular, had become the head of one of an esteemed, private university’s African American History Department. I would even encounter some of my own students that had gone on to surpass my level of accomplishments from a secular career perspective. Those where some good times!
What does what you just read have to do with the title above? Just hold your horses, as my Dad used to say, meaning, “Just wait a minute! I’m getting there!” I just wanted to set the stage. When I would go through the checkout and the clerk manning the only checkout line open would start to reach for plastic bags, I would quickly, but kindly say, “May I have paper please?” The clerk would say, “Are you sure?” I would respond, “I prefer paper.” You see, I was fixed in my ways. I had preferred paper bags all my life and I was set, fixed in my way. Is there any hope for us when one is “fixed in your ways?”
The remedy for moving from the “fixed in your ways” stage, a point where things stay at status quo is simple. The solution is to open your eyes, open your mind to a better way. Now you have to be willing to see the benefit of changing to a new way of doing things or even a new way of thinking. Back to my fixation on paper bags. It’s almost impossible to get paper bags today. So I was somewhat forced by a lack of options to use plastic bags. As I unloaded my car after a quick run to the store Monday morning, I finally understood why the clerk at my old favorite store asked the question, “Are you sure?” Call it latent learning if you must. But the point is I discovered that rather than making two to three trips from the car to bring in my groceries, I was able to hang and hook multiple plastic bags on one arm, grab a large package of paper towels, and put my work bag that I had left in the car on my shoulder, and I did it all in one trip. Now, I see the benefit of the plastic bags after all these years. Using plastic bags is a timesaver. That’s my changed perspective.
Application? There are many areas of life, outside of my real-life story, where we are really stuck in our ways. And to make it worse, we become fixated, almost as we are encased in a concrete block, unable to move and unwilling to change. We are fixed in our ways. Don’t be like me and my stuck on brown paper bag preference! Check out the Word of God and look for a new way, a better way, of thinking and/or doing. Like I was questioned by the clerk and did not pay it any attention, when you look into the Word, you may have your conduct questioned at times. Well, you don’t have to wait years to find that you will benefit from moving from your fixed way or ways. The remedy, the most reliable antidote to moving away from your fixed ways is in the Word of God. Act on it right away. Don’t hesitate or wait until finally experience gives you no other option, but to change. Open your heart and your mind, go to “The Book” and see if what I am telling you is not true. Have a wonderful Wednesday! Stay God-conscious! Make some, or at least one, positive change where you can move from fixated to fixed! Smile! Be blessed!
“Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.” (Psalm 119:18 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King