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“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
You have probably heard the saying concerning computers, “Input equals output.” Or, the more popular term, “Garbage in, garbage out.” That does not apply to just computers, but also to human beings. If what we feed in is bad, we cannot expect the results to be good.
Today we are constantly bombarded with messages on every side. Everyone wants to influence us to do something, usually to buy their product or service. Distraction is a major problem we face. Because of the information overload with which we must deal, it is easy to be distracted from what is most important, God’s Word. It is not so much that the information we are feeding into our hearts and minds is necessarily bad, just that it can easily crowd out what is most important from our lives.
“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:2-22).
God’s Word is not just another message, but something that has life in it. Just because your senses are not aware of the life emanating from God’s Word is no proof. Nuclear radiation is also unseen and unfelt but, as we know, can quickly kill you. God’s Word is the opposite—it radiates life.
“For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
God is our Source of existence. In His Word there is a deposit of life from Him that we require to live and operate optimally. That means that without a constant feeding on the Word of God, you are living below what God intended for you.
Maintain the attitude that you will keep your heart with all diligence. You will feed in the Word of God, which gives life.
Don Readhimer
West Side church of Christ
Muskogee, OK