Be ye mindful

"Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;"

1 Chronicles 16:15

We live in a world where mindless seems to be okay. One of the late-night talk shows has a segment where they randomly interview people on the street and ask them questions that seem to have obvious answers. I guess the answers aren't quite so obvious.

Question: "Who is the president of the United States?"

Answer: —blank stare—

This happens more times than we want to think.

Mindless eating … mindless entertainment … mindless violence … mindless work … mindless behavior … (you get the picture.)

But God wants us to be mindful — mindful of His covenant: His covenant which He commanded to a thousand generations.

How much of His covenant are you mindful of? Did you read your Bible today? Have you studied it this week? this month? this year?

Are you passing His covenant on to the next generation?

Be mindful.

Be ye thankful

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."

Colossians 3:15

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;"

Ephesians 5:20

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

Philippians 4:6

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;"

1 Timothy 2:1

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

Hebrews 13:15

"Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."

Revelation 7:12

Be ye kind

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you."

Ephesians 4:32

"She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Proverbs 31:26

"Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

1 Peter 3:8-12

Whatever happened to kindness? We live in a culture that prides itself on being in your face! Rude is the rule rather than the exception. But God said "be ye kind."

Kind just means pleasant and gracious. This really is one of the easy be ye's. Do you know if you cultivate kindness in yourself, you will be much more likely to behave yourself as a Christian showing God's love to those around you? A kind woman will speak pleasantly to the checker at the grocery store who may be speaking rudely to you. You never know, maybe she is having a terrible day and your kindness can make all the difference. I have experienced that many, many times.

If you are a kind person, you will act with kindness towards those around you.

Be ye kind.

Be Ye & Be Not

Many years ago (more than I would like to admit) I was reading through Romans and came to Romans 12:1-2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

As I read the words "be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed" I remembered something I had heard a pastor say:

If you will be what you are supposed to be, you will do what you are supposed to do.

And it got me to thinking … how many times did God say, "be ye." This all happened so long ago, that the Bible program I had on my little Mac SE was limited and would not search common words like "be" and "ye." So, I got out my trusty Strong's Concordance and that was a no go, too. Do you know how long it took me to look up just 5 or 10 occurrences of the phrase "be ye"?

So the thought was placed on the back burner for a while. Then we got a more powerful computer and Bible program and viola!! I could look up the phrase!

There are so many times God says "be ye" that it will take a while to cover it. I may cover a few, take a break and revisit the study but over the coming weeks and months, I hope you find the study as interesting as I do.

For today, think on this one:

"Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

Luke 12:40

In my observation over the past 40+ years of salvation and church attendance, it is, I think, when Christians forget that the Lord is returning; earth is temporary; there is a life in heaven ever after that Christians struggle more with serving the Lord.

If we "be ready" then we will be compelled to serve Him.