{"id":51258,"date":"2017-08-31T21:10:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T02:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=51258"},"modified":"2022-08-06T21:12:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-07T02:12:47","slug":"should-i-be-in-the-moment-or-constantly-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-be-in-the-moment-or-constantly-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I be &#8220;in the moment&#8221; or constantly thinking?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>How should a Christian think? I myself am a deep thinker and catch myself in my head thinking about eternity and thinking about heaven, and sometimes I am not present when talking to people &#8212; I am a million miles away. I have heard all these eastern things about being &#8220;present.&#8221; I&#8217;m not going to follow their advice because I believe it is not of God. But how should a Christian think? Should I be &#8220;in the moment&#8221; or constantly thinking?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<blockquote>&#8220;<em>There is an appointed time for everything.<br \/>\nAnd there is a time for every event under heaven &#8212;<br \/>\nA time to give birth and a time to die;<br \/>\nA time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.<br \/>\nA time to kill and a time to heal;<br \/>\nA time to tear down and a time to build up.<br \/>\nA time to weep and a time to laugh;<br \/>\nA time to mourn and a time to dance.<br \/>\nA time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;<br \/>\nA time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.<br \/>\nA time to search and a time to give up as lost;<br \/>\nA time to keep and a time to throw away.<br \/>\nA time to tear apart and a time to sew together;<br \/>\nA time to be silent and a time to speak.<br \/>\nA time to love and a time to hate;<br \/>\nA time for war and a time for peace<\/em>&#8221; (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).<\/blockquote>\n<p>This is not so much a right or wrong question but a realization that timing is important. When you are talking with people, then you need to be listening. &#8220;<em>So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak &#8230;<\/em>&#8221; (James 1:19). It is rude to be pretending to converse with someone but not actually listen to what the other person is saying. How can you know what to say next if you have not heard? &#8220;<em>Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one<\/em>&#8221; (Colossians 4:6).<\/p>\n<p>This is not to say that you can&#8217;t spend time thinking deeply. You just have to select times when it is appropriate.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still<\/em>&#8221; (Psalms 4:4).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple<\/em>&#8221; (Psalms 27:4).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches<\/em>&#8221; (Psalms 63:6).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day<\/em>&#8221; (Psalms 119:97).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word<\/em>&#8221; (Psalms 119:148).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Pick idle times, boring times, and times when there isn&#8217;t anything particular you need to focus on at the moment for your meditations.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: How should a Christian think? I myself am a deep thinker and catch myself in my head thinking about eternity and thinking about heaven, and sometimes I am not present when talking to people &#8212; I am a million miles away. I have heard all these eastern things about being &#8220;present.&#8221; I&#8217;m not going&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[865],"class_list":["post-51258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-meditation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41923,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-left-god-and-have-not-been-a-faithful-wife-how-do-i-get-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":51258,"position":0},"title":"I left God and have not been a faithful wife. How do I get baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have known about God all my life. I used to go to church with my parents. It has been a long time since I have been to church. I forgot about Him for a while; I lost faith and stopped praying. I got married two years ago. A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58661,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/permission-and-promotion\/","url_meta":{"origin":51258,"position":1},"title":"Permission and Promotion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Marita Crozier I recently read\u00a0Lessons from the Classroom: 20 Things Good Teachers Do\u00a0by Hal Urban. Don't be fooled by the title into thinking that this book is only for educators and thus not for you. On the contrary, this is one of the best books I have ever read\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21123,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-scared-of-the-thoughts-in-my-head\/","url_meta":{"origin":51258,"position":2},"title":"I&#8217;m scared of the thoughts in my head","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: After days of researching everywhere to know if I am truly safe because I thought I had committed the unforgivable sin, which is the sin of having blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, I found out that I did not because to truly commit that sin, you must have your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16934,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happens-if-we-sin-just-before-we-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":51258,"position":3},"title":"What happens if we sin just before we die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: For a faithful child of God, one who has put on Christ in baptism, and has lived a faithful life in Christ, but in a moment of weakness commits a sin, which the Scriptures tells us we all do, and he dies in that moment of weakness - do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35457,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-interested-in-a-girl-but-she-isnt-a-strong-christian-should-i-take-a-chance-on-her-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":51258,"position":4},"title":"I&#8217;m interested in a girl, but she isn&#8217;t a strong Christian. Should I take a chance on her or not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I really don't even know why I am here asking this when I probably already know the answer. I guess I just need a second opinion. You see, I met this girl a while back. I am a Christian and she is also, but she doesn't really live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37282,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-you-didnt-know-something-was-sinful-before-you-were-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":51258,"position":5},"title":"What if you didn&#8217;t know something was sinful before you were baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have been baptized recently and but my mom has not yet. I have been trying to encourage her to get baptized and she has said that she wants to be baptized soon. However, I recently read some things on your website about repenting before being baptized that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}