That's Matthew 15:10-11.
While not referring specifically to interests and music and the like, it struck me in such a way. But not until last week did it really hit me.
"Take me down to the Paradise City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty."
Yes, i was singing that. Not an overly perverse song compared to a lot of stuff out there, but if you went through my music library, you'd find nothing of the sort.
Now, i don't listen to Guns 'N Roses or whoever wrote that. It's the theme to a video game i used to play all the time called Burnout Paradise, set in a fictional town called "Paradise City."
But this went into my ears. A lot. And it's a terrifyingly catchy song.
But the reason that verse hit me so hard is because i sang that after coming across that video game's case the other day, and my mom heard me and said "Josh, what are you singing?"
The reason for her shock was because i don't listen to that kind of music aside from in that game. But it was constantly going into me.
Now let's go back to the words Jesus spoke; “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
It hadn't defiled me by my exposure. But i gave it room in my mind, and because i let that seed take root, it came out of my mouth - the overflow of the heart.
It was given room in my mind by ingestion. It then flowed into my heart, and eventually came out my mouth.
While there are things worse to have flow out of my mouth than a simple remark about pretty girls, it was still below my standards. That's precisely why i don't make a practice of listening to secular music. Because what we entertain ourselves with is merely seeds to either plants or to weeds. And if we let them take root, they can be the "inch" that we give the devil. Next thing we know, we've lost all standards that set us apart from the rest of the world.
Yes, i was singing that. Not an overly perverse song compared to a lot of stuff out there, but if you went through my music library, you'd find nothing of the sort.
Now, i don't listen to Guns 'N Roses or whoever wrote that. It's the theme to a video game i used to play all the time called Burnout Paradise, set in a fictional town called "Paradise City."
But this went into my ears. A lot. And it's a terrifyingly catchy song.
But the reason that verse hit me so hard is because i sang that after coming across that video game's case the other day, and my mom heard me and said "Josh, what are you singing?"
The reason for her shock was because i don't listen to that kind of music aside from in that game. But it was constantly going into me.
Now let's go back to the words Jesus spoke; “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
It hadn't defiled me by my exposure. But i gave it room in my mind, and because i let that seed take root, it came out of my mouth - the overflow of the heart.
It was given room in my mind by ingestion. It then flowed into my heart, and eventually came out my mouth.
While there are things worse to have flow out of my mouth than a simple remark about pretty girls, it was still below my standards. That's precisely why i don't make a practice of listening to secular music. Because what we entertain ourselves with is merely seeds to either plants or to weeds. And if we let them take root, they can be the "inch" that we give the devil. Next thing we know, we've lost all standards that set us apart from the rest of the world.
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