Guard Your Heart

Old Believer's Church of the Intercession

On a drizzly, chilly day in Moscow I curled up with a cup of coffee and a new book looking forward to settling in for a good read.  I bought a pile of books in Michigan this summer written by Michigan authors and set in Michigan.  It was good to be home and I wanted to stretch the feeling of home just a bit more!

The book was off to a slow start and it really bombed a few chapters in.  It was smutty.  I read the back of the book double checking why I had bought it.  Phrases like "a real heroine" and "a true adventure" and "straight from the heart of Michigan" left me wondering what book the reviewers were reading.  I decided to try one more chapter but was so disgusted by the end that I walked over to the trash can and dropped it in.

My husband and I had a similar experience in the t.v. department this week.  I had commented that it would be nice to have a funny comedy to watch so he did a bit of checking and found one that was getting good reviews.  We watched an episode and I thought "not funny - crass".  We watched one more then turned off the t.v. and said "no more".  

This all reminds me of a song I was listening to in the car.  I had gotten the brand new album from one of my favorite aritists and burned it onto a cd for the car.  I "sang" along one day with the family in the car.  My husband suddenly asked me if I realized what the song was about.  I had no idea, so I backed the song up and listened to the words.  I couldn't believe the story that unfolded in my ears.  The tune was so catchy that I never really paid attention to the words.

It's hard to find good quality entertainment that isn't entrenched in sin.  I find no enjoyment in listening to a bunch of cuss words, watching dysfunction or reading smutt.  It's not how I want to spend my free time.  But what amazes me is how people think they can watch/listen to/read all this stuff and believe that it won't affect them.  What we put in is what comes out.  You may not go out and murder a person, but little things are changing in your mind.  The way you perceive someone, what you want or what you believe is ethical slowly shifts.  Suddenly you see something as ok that a few years ago you would have distanced yourself from.  

I challenge you, don't be afraid to throw the book in the trash can, turn the music off or stop watching a movie.  Make a conscious decision to protect your mind.

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Luke 6:45

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in hes heart.  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.