“Be Like Steel, Not Like Wax” By John Cassian, 395ad

• “The mind of an upright man ought not to be like wax, or any other soft material, which always yields to the shape of what presses on it, and is stamped with its form and impress and keeps it until it takes another shape by having another seal stamped upon it; and so it turns out that it never retains its own form, but is turned and twisted about to correspond to whatever is pressed upon it. But the righteous man should instead be like a stamp of hard steel, that the mind may always keep its proper form and shape, and may stamp and imprint the marks of its own condition on everything that happens to it, while nothing that happens to it can leave any mark on the stamp.”*

Reflect on that great truth! Now, you may be thinking, “Why did Seth choose this quote from a Christian who lived 1,600 years ago for this first blog post?” That’s an understandable question. Here is an attempt at an answer for you: Because the powerful truth Cassian is telling us through the creative use of powerful imagery, is what I hope this effort in posting blogs will be centered around in the future; that is – helping us grow to be strong Christians through strengthening our thinking. As Cassian says, when a Christians mind is strong, it is able to guard itself from outside influences. And, when a Christian mind is strong, it can have a kingdom impact on others.

Or as Romans 12:2 say so well, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect.” Likewise, Master Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:13-16 that we are to be salt and light to the world. A great way to be salt and light to be an intelligible witness of the Lord Jesus through how we think about ourselves, God and the world as we interact with fellow humans year to year.

I hope that this experiment with blogging will be used by the Holy Spirit to help us all, including myself, to this end.

Sola Deo Gloria (to God alone be the Glory).

Pastor Seth