The Tv Recipe
THE TV RECIPE
Read 2 Timothy 2:19-22.
“Mom, can I watch Blazing Guns?” Samuel asked. “Almost all my friends are gonna watch it. Even my history teacher says it’s worth seeing because of its accurate historical setting.”
“How about helping me bake a cake, and we’ll talk about it,” said Mom, taking a box of cake mix from the cupboard. She poured the chocolate mix into a bowl and read the directions on the box. “Let’s see—eggs, oil, water, what else? Oh yes, Samuel, please go to the basement and get a handful of dirt I keep for repotting houseplants. I’ll add it to the other ingredients.”
Samuel laughed. “Very funny, Mom. The box doesn’t say, ‘Add one cup of dirt.’”
“No,” said Mom as she plugged in the mixer, “but it would make the cake bigger. And all the good things would still be there.”
“But the dirt would ruin the cake,” Samuel said. “It might even make me sick!”
“That’s true, Samuel,” agreed Mom. “So you’d be very unhappy if I ruined your favorite cake?” Samuel nodded.
“I’m sure God feels that way about your heart,” said Mom as she turned the mixer on low. “The program you want to watch may have some fine things about it, but from the ads I’ve seen, I’m afraid it also has a lot of cursing and violence. Those ingredients don’t belong in your heart any more than dirt belongs in cake.”
Samuel sighed. “I guess I need to find a show that doesn’t call for dirt,” he said.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
What ingredients go into the programs you watch? Are they good for your heart? Are they pleasing to God? Be choosy. Your mind needs pure ingredients to produce good thoughts.
TO MEMORIZE:
Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8
WATCH WHAT GOES INTO YOUR HEART.
From the book
