Bling

It seems to me that studying the Word needs to be like enjoying a 5 course dinner. By this, I mean, that the time we spend in the Word generally tends to be more like a “fast food” drive through. We tend to skim instead of study and grab a quick snack instead making a feast of the Word. I know… I do this. I grab a bite here, a slice there, a drink now and then and think it’s refreshing – and it is, but so often, when I do this, I realize I am missing so much… so much more is right there – available to me – just for me: fresh bread from the LORD, day by day.

Last week in our Bible study we were considering 1 John 2 and the verses that caught our attention were 15-17:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

So, we talked about what that means, loving the world and the things in the world and being conformed to the image of the world. The young people instantly said: the Bling! Bling (baby)!” So we talked about Bling. Wes asked, is “bling” what we’re looking for and is it righteous, honourable, holy, modest… to be looking for Bling? Is it honourable to want to be ostentatious? And if we’re looking for “bling” are we doing so to draw attention to ourselves? We all agreed that that’s the whole purpose of “bling” and more for “Bling-bling!”

By the way, from Wikipedia: “Bling-bling” (sometimes shortened to simply “bling”) is a hip hop slang term which refers to expensive jewelry and other accoutrements, and also to an entire lifestyle built around excess spending and ostentation. In its essence, the term refers to the exterior manifestation of one’s interior state of character, normally displayed through various forms of visual stimuli.

So, this week we came back to the same chapter and were set to read on from verse 18 to the end, but first talked about the past week and what the LORD was speaking to each one of us. Well… “Bling” came up and we were sharing how just mulling over one passage or one thought over the week has such an impact on the what and why’s of life or what we’re doing and why.

So, through the week I found myself asking: am I doing this or that, or wearing this or that, or liking this or that for the right reasons? Am I looking for bling? Do the bling, bling’s of this world grab my attention—and keep it? Or, after a first response of wow! to this or that bling that grabbed my attention, is my next response is to walk away from it? Is my resolve to not be conformed to the image of this world? More… do I begrudge walking away from bling? I mean, don’t I deserve it? I’m thinking of the MaryKay consultant who, last week, said: “O, you deserve it!” And as I drove home later that night I thought on that comment… you deserve it. I thought of the number of instances where I’ve heard that phrase: You deserve it. You ought to do what you want. You need a break today. You work hard, you deserve a vacation. You’ve gone a long time without, now you deserve to have this… and on and on. I’m not dissing anyone… I think I say some of these very same things myself. But I’m mulling over these thoughts — bling and self…

Ah, what I deserve and what I have been given… thank You, LORD, for Your grace and merciful kindness.