The Best Beauty Treatment

As someone not really keen on needles, I haven’t ventured down the path of being injected with Botulinum toxin type A, more commonly known as Botox.

Those who had received Botox injections were largely a subject of derision some years ago, but the practice of having this toxin injected into our faces is now not only acceptable, but a desired and regular practice by a growing number of people worldwide. Wikipedia estimates have the global Botox industry growing to $2.9 billion by 2018.

While some of this is for genuine health matters, much of it will be injected to smooth out the wrinkles in foreheads and eyes and lips – wherever we think our face needs a touch-up, in search of a more youthful look. Treatments can last as little as six weeks to as long as eight months, but ultimately, to keep up appearances, botox injections must become a regular feature in that person’s life.

There are some potential side effects, and the substance itself is actually pretty nasty. Produced by bacterium, it is one of the most acutely toxic substances known, with the potential to cause botulism if used incorrectly. But that doesn’t stop people from trying it in their attempt to look better.

In the Bible is the story of the selection of a new king. God directed the prophet Samuel to go to a man named Jessie’s house, where God said he would show Samuel which of Jessie’s sons to anoint as the new king. The first son he saw was Eliab, a strong and handsome young man, and Samuel thought this had to be the one. But God said, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.”

From God’s perspective, what’s on the inside far outweighs our external appearance.

Wanting to look good is not a bad thing, it’s just not as important as how we look on the inside. We are willing to pay big dollars and make certain sacrifices to look beautiful, but are we prepared to do anything about having a beautiful heart, a beautiful character?

Instead of injecting ourselves with toxins, we should be injecting our lives with love, patience, compassion, unselfish kindness, faithfulness and self-control.

This is the work of the Spirit of the God. When you turn towards God and walk in tune with Jesus, this spiritual work of character refinement and enhancement begins. For some like me it’s a slow process, others get some miraculously instant results.

For all it’s a journey of continuous soul beautification.

And the side effects of this beauty treatment are all good.

And there’s no needles!

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

A New Thing

Sitting atop a chest of drawers in my bedroom are two old fashioned porcelain vases. Covered in a floral design, with a couple of chips here and there, these two vases sit by side as ornaments, much to my wife’s chagrin.

“Can’t we get rid of those ugly things?” she constantly asks.

My oft-repeated reply of, “No. They belonged to my great grand-mother,” is always met with the question “so?”

So – why do I keep them? I paused to ponder this very deep question recently. Why should the fact that these vases once belonged to an ancestor I never met or knew have enough relevance for me to hang on to these things (which are rather ugly, and worthless)? Why too do I keep things that once belonged to grandparents and parents, unable to ever contemplate throwing them away, as if to do so would be an insult?

My wife simply thinks I’m a hoarder, and points to the box of old newspapers, my junior sport medals and folders full of old football cards as evidence.

I guess with the family heirlooms it’s more of a case of wanting a link to the past. A heritage. An acknowledgement of those who have come before me, without whom I wouldn’t exist. Something tangible that connects me to my ancestors.

But the danger exists for all of us of getting stuck in the past. Nostalgia can get a powerful hold on us and prevent us moving forward. Many people today get mired in the hurt, bitterness or grief of past days, and it can be hurtful and harmful. Or they look so fondly back to the ‘good old days’ that they become rancorous or defeatist about the present and the future.

In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah records God as saying, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

A belief that God is continually at work creating and bringing about new circumstances and new opportunities and new experiences – ‘new things’- is what gives the Christian hope and a sense of excitement of what lies ahead in life. It frees us from the past. We are much easier able to ‘let go’ and just ‘let God’.

We don’t get dragged down by our past failures or hurts so much, because we know that our mistakes are forgiven and something new waits just around the corner.

When you become a follower of Jesus, it’s just like becoming a new person. The past is the past. And you can leave it there. You can move forward in freedom. The old is gone. No longer relevant.

But… when it comes to family heirlooms?

Hmm – the vases - I think I’ll hang on to them, for a little while longer anyway.

Sorry, dear.


www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Running Away

Running away – from somewhere, or something, or someone – has been the basis of many great films, books and stories. And the Bible is no exception.

The story of Jonah, the ‘belly of the whale’ guy, is a running away story. God told him to go to the city of Nineveh to do some preaching to the wayward people there, but he got up and went in the exact opposite direction, paying his fare to travel by boat to Tarshish to get, in his mind, ‘as far away from God as I can get.’ But during the journey a storm whipped up, and Jonah ended up getting thrown overboard, only to be swallowed by a huge fish. Once vomited back onto shore, he decided to head straight to Nineveh, where God wanted him to go I the first place!

Jesus told a running away story, which has become known as the story of the Prodigal Son. A young man asked his father for his inheritance early, then took the money and ran – to a distant country where he lived the high life and spent all the money. He got to the point of being so poor and destitute, working in a pig sty, that he was eating pig slops to survive. Even though he felt he’d burnt his bridge, he decided to head home to face the music and see if he couldn’t get some small improvement in his living conditions.

Imagine his surprise when his father, who had seen this insolent, disrespectful son run away from home and waste all the inheritance, welcomed him back with the open arms of forgiveness, and immediately threw a big welcome home shindig!

Many of us try and run from God like Jonah did. I sure did. As soon as I got married and left home, not only did my church attendance go from weekly to never, but my faith went out the window. I lived much like the prodigal son, wasting my time and money seeking pleasure in ways and on things that were always only temporary. I hurt many people along the way with my selfish, indulgent living. Almost destroyed myself.

Today I meet lots of people who perhaps attended a Sunday School as kids, or who went to church for a while in their younger days, who used to pray and believe and seek to live a Jesus-following life, who have long since abandoned this aspect of their lives. Turned away, or ran away, from God.

Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son for any of us who had run away from God. The father in the story is an image of God, who is just waiting for us to return, and as we do, we are welcomed with open arms and completely forgiven. The relationship is restored, and celebrated.

Perhaps you’re on the run now. Running away from God.

Psalm 139 tells us that no matter where we go, we can never get away from God’s Spirit, never get away from God’s presence. Other parts in the Bible assure us that we can never get away from God’s love.

So turn around. Turn back to God. Say a prayer. Dust off your Bible. Find a suitable church.

Go on, go home. There’s a warm welcome awaiting you.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington