Continuing in the Word

Matthew 12:33-34  NLT  “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

In some of my recent entries, it has become clear that I am looking at my input.  I remember my 7th grade business ed teacher, Mr. Lemmenes, first taught me the concept of GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out.  In the computer world if you give a computer nonsense data input, it will give you similarly nonsense data output, or an error for that matter.

I heard a minister once say the following:

Whatever your hear or see determines what you believe.  What you believe determines what you say.  What you say determines how you will act.  How you act will determine your destiny. 

So, how important is it to watch what it is that you are putting into yourself?  Very important.

 We had a great time in the Word at church tonight and pastor spent time speaking on this very topic within the framework of Renewing (Transforming) the Mind.  (Click here to check it out if you'd like - tonight's sermon should be up in a day or two.)  It was said that if we spend 22 hrs a day putting in information from the world and only 5 minutes or so considering the Word of God, what input is going to be determining our destiny?

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)

Day AND night?  John 8:31 says "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;"  In my Bible, I have a note written in for the word continue that says to "remain in a permanent place".  I don't think the word continue means to do so occasionally.  There is a real sense here that this is an on-going thing.  Notice it says though that then YOU will make your way properous.  As I'm considering the Word of God in all situations, all day and all night, I will make my way prosperous.

I'm making a commitment to be considering the Word of God in more of my day tomorrow.  When I am driving, when I am setting to work, when I am helping my boys got ready for pre-school, I will be considering the Word for my life.  It seems that in these tasks I tend to allow myself to get distant from the Word of God.  I endeavor to simply consider the Word while I am going about these things and I'll report back on the day.  It will be a prosperous and successful one.