Bag of Potato Chips

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

Proverbs 4:23

We all have a food weakness, right?  At least humor me here!  Mine is brownies and chips, if I'm in the mood.  Those 2 things are hard to resist.  Hmmm...I think to myself, I'll just eat one chip.  Crunchy, salty, tangy flavor, then what happens:  if I am not careful, I've eaten more than 2 servings!  The taste of one chip leaves you waiting for the next one, and the next one, and so on.

I recently read the analogy in a book, and it really jumped off the page at me!  Speaking in terms of cultural influences in our lives and the lives of our children.  There are a couple groups of parents out there:  the ones that "shelter" and the ones that want their children to "be a part of the real world."  There is definitely a fine line there...so don't get your toes stepped on too much.  What spoke to me was the "taste" factor.  One bad apple spoils the whole bunch.  A little yeast leavens the whole loaf...and so on.  One "funny" movie that is full of disrespect to God and others may be doing us more harm than we realize...

I am really moved by the amount of effort it takes to truly keep a child's heart pure.  Think with me today about your family and your children.  What movies have we seen lately?  What shows are the kids watching?  In your spare time, what books do you read?  What addictions do we have?  No guilt trip intended here.  I have plenty of my own life instances that are in review right now.  I do believe though that we deserve to give God power enough over evil to expel some of the things we see as "okay" in our lives.  What glory is it giving Him?  Furthermore, what character traits is it giving us as we internalize what our eyes see and our ears hear without even realizing the effects?

Friends, it has occurred to me that either our hearts are sold out Christ or not sold at all.  Being perfect is not the issue here.  The topic is choices, and we are given plenty of them in our culture.  I hope you will join me and pull out the weeds in the garden of our souls.  Let's get rid of what does us no good.

Look at these verses:

 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.  
1 Corinthians 6:12


Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8


 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  Matthew 6:22-23