“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:23‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/pro.4.23.esv

In the Spring of 1999 my father passed away. Shortly after this, I started listening to the local Christian radio station. After a particularly stressful day at work I flipped on the radio on the commute home and a song came on that quickly became my favorite. The song is “I will rest in you” by Jackie Valasquez.

A few weeks later I was on the phone with a buddy of mine and told him how I was doing following my fathers passing. I mentioned that my mood and spirits were up since my change of radio stations. He made the comment, “garbage in, garbage out” and went on to explain how what we consume with our eyes and ears effects us just like the food we consume. If you eat crap you’ll feel like crap.

The passage in Proverbs speaks directly to this reality. As believers we must guard our heart by guarding what we watch, hear, read, and otherwise consume in our lives. Things that we see today would be unheard of just 20 years ago but our hearts have become hardened (numb) to what used to be shocking. We can’t be passive and take in what the world has to offer. We must take in the living word of God so we can in turn go and speak life into the world around us.