OLD SOUL

I've heard many people speak of someone having an old soul. usually towards a youngster that acts like an older mature individual.  Not to say they are always ultra mature or even conservative, but it usually references someone who, due to they way they carry themselves, reminds people of their grand parents.  This description is usually considered a complement and I have seen recipients accept the statement as a badge or honor.

This all brings to mind the thought of old-fashioned and the negative connotation that brings, and I have to wonder...what's so negative about it?  A. W. Tozer once wrote that it is flawed to think that all things old are good, and all things new are bad.  Think "GIVE ME THAT OLD TIME RELIGION."  There is however a new strain of thought, that doing things the old way is bad and the new is good innovation.  So where is the line or truth drawn?  In Jeremiah 6 it states:

Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls

You see there is a way that is old, but it is more than old, it is the original way, the standard way, the perfect way.  This was of course messed up, but we are called to remain some DNA of the old ways in our lives.  What is this old way?  LIVE IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD!  The old way is the timeless way that has shown in the lives of extraordinary people for centuries, and is the mark of good character.  Now this doesn't mean that we discard the old.  As Tozer stated, innovation is needed because change is constant an we have to learn how to make proper use of the changes.  (THINK internet, facebook, twitter, etc)  God can give us the wisdom to use all these things to His Glory, he just needs people who are seeking that old timeless way of walking in submissive faith and running the race set before us in an innovative way. I THINK IT'S AWESOME HOW THE WATER OF LIFE CAN BRING SO MUCH HEAT!

Let me end with a quote A. W. Tozer who said that he would "like to see...a number of persons committed to the everlastingness of the truth as it is given from heaven, manifested in the inspiration of scripture and the faith of our father...."  IMAGINE THE RESULTS.