Once upon a time there was a small village near a castle on a hill. The village had a blacksmith named Barney whose main job was to make swords for the army of the Prince who resided in the nearby castle. It was a task he thoroughly enjoyed because the swords were used to defend the realm from attack. He knew his village was safer because of the daily job he performed.

Barney knew he had purpose and that his job also paid well as he was a master craftsman and other friendly village armies came to him for his newest sword accomplishments. He was always trying to make one sword better than the other in one way or another.

But Barney also realized that these weapons killed people and it was a dilemma he often pondered. He knew that the same thing that defended his life also took away the lives of others.

He had often thought of another job, but he was so good at what he did, that even the thought of doing something else, which would be like starting from scratch would make him wonder if he would be any good at it. Also the princes that depended on him for his durable swords would be angry and upset that he was doing something other than what he was well known for throughout the kingdom.

Ezekiel 33:13-16 "I have said the good man will live. But if he sins, expecting his past goodness to save him, then none of his good deeds will be remembered. I will destroy him for his sins. 14 And when I tell the wicked he will die, and then he turns from his sins and does what is fair and right- 15 if he gives back the borrower's pledge, returns what he has stolen, and walks along the paths of right, not doing evil-he shall surely live. He shall not die. 16 None of his past sins shall be brought up against him, for he has turned to the good and shall surely live. TLB

Have you ever had a situation in your life where a job you performed had both positive and negative aspects to it? I can't imagine what it would be like to fight in the armed forces. My father has his stories of his part in World War II, and I often hear of these stories from him. But they are mostly about funny or unusual things that happened to him, and rarely about the negatives of fighting a foe.

It is easier to talk about the positives of war, the camaraderies, and the friendships and the silly unusual situations than all the negative aspects of killing and strife. My dad mentioned when he was in India that a monkey decided to sit on his head. This is obviously a situation that would probably not happen at home.

I guess when it comes down to it, and this is a rather interesting paradox is that the person that fought in a war will mostly want to talk about the positives or the funny and unusual situations that came up. But yet for those of us that never fought in a war or haven't fought in a war in a long time, it is easier to talk about the negatives rather than all the positives and blessings that God has given us. It is easier for us to talk of our ailments or the ailments of those near to us that have been hospitalized than it is to talk about the positives that have given us a reason to live and flourish on Earth.

I guess that what it boils down to is that when we were faced with a lot of negatives in life, such as in a war, we tend to want to look at the positives to make ourselves feel good somehow. But yet when we are faced with many positives in life, we have a general tendency to want to talk about the negatives because we are creatures of habit.

It is interesting to note that when we talk of the positives in our lives, we may be seen by others as boasting. And I think that is why we often talk of the negatives because we see them as more interesting. Look at novels. We read of conflict and of people enduring maladies and hardships, and without it, we are not interested in reading any further because we want to read how the hero/heroine beat what appeared to be impossible odds to come out living happily ever after. But if there was such a things as a novel that only talked about the positives in a person's life, we would probably toss the book into the trash before we finished the first chapter.

So you might say we are negative creatures living in a potentially positive world. Potentially because if we were to sit down and spend a day going over in our minds all the positives in our lives, we would find so many possibilities that any negative part of our lives would seem meaningless by comparison and not worth talking about. But then it would be the biggest challenge of our lives to take an entire day and try to only think about the positives rather than the negatives that probably permeate our minds 75-95% of each day. It is sad when you really think about it. Ooops! There's another negative thought process.

So let's try an experiment, just try to think of positives for the next 24 hours. Every time you think of a negative you have to start over with the 24 hours. Is this even possible? Maybe or maybe not. But what would happen if we prayed every time we thought of a negative and asked God for help in creating a more positive situation in our lives. Think about how Jesus would have thought during a typical day. Would he have spent as much time as the average person thinking about how awful life can be sometimes? Think about that whenever you feel bad and need a shoulder to cry on. Give your time to God. Try it this way, every time you think about a negative, pray. Who knows you may find that life could be a whole lot better.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I know that sometimes I get carried away with all these negative thoughts that keep going through my mind and I need your help. Give me the insight or whatever thoughts I need to have that will improve my outlook on life. And thank you Lord, for all your many blessings. Amen.

Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.

Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope who would love to hear from you. God Bless.

© 2006 Bryan Hill