June 9 – Brain food

“A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.” Proverbs 15:14 (NLT, 2nd edition)

I read an interesting article by Rick Warren this week – or should I say, in light of the title of this blog – it was thought provoking. Rick was basically saying God will hold us accountable for what we allow to enter our minds.

What we think matters, because everything starts in the mind. To be a responsible person, we have to control our thoughts. Our minds control everything about us....our thoughts influence our feelings....our feelings impact our actions. You're likely thinking, “Whoa, hang on a minute, I can't be responsible for every stray thought that enters my mind!” That's exactly what I thought. I carry around enough excess baggage, without adding false guilt to it.

Stray thoughts enter our minds for a variety of reasons — conversations we hear by accident, things we see, stuff the devil puts in our minds, etc. Agreed? But we are responsible for how we deal with those stray thoughts. Martin Luther said it like this: “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”

It's amazing what some people watch — not to mention what they allow their children watch. Many true followers of Jesus spend their time watching trashy TV and listening to trashy radio programmes. Good money is paid to see deviant behavior as entertainment. People watching such shows have told Rick Warren, “When I go see those kinds of things, it just doesn’t phase me. It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t affect me.”

They must be joking - that’s just not true! Increasingly people are transfixed to the web and social networking sites. An innocent trawl for information turns into a 'beware of the pornographic pop-ups' exercise.

Scientists have conducted study after study that says we never really forget any scene we see. Even if we don’t consciously recall the scene, that idea will come right back to our minds when we least expect it — in living color — when something else stimulates the thought.

In other words, “Garbage in, garbage out.” What we put into our minds will inevitably bear fruit in our behavior and beliefs. In fact, when trashy entertainment doesn’t bother us anymore, it’s a warning light that we’ve already passed the threshold.

One of Satan’s greatest tricks for attracting our attention is comedy. That’s why on television or in movies, bad language and behavior always starts with comedy. If Satan can get us laughing at something that is sinful, we’ve already lost the battle.

Sin isn’t funny. Sin put Jesus on the cross.

What are you filling your brain with?

Jim Reeves singing - “I'd Rather Have Jesus” is today's music. Click on the picture to listen.