OUT WITH THE BAD, IN WITH THE GOOD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you.”

James 1:19-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Breathing.

You could say it’s a way of life, right? Especially because you wouldn’t live long if you stopped breathing altogether.

In fact, in the time you have read up to this point, you will have probably breathed in and out twelve to sixteen times which is the average number of breaths an adult will take every minute.

Of course, there is an elemental nature to breathing. Let’s call it Breathing 101.

When a person breathes in, they draw in oxygen, a basic chemical element represented by the symbol “O”.  Breathing out however produces a completely different chemical element, carbon dioxide, which is represented by the symbol “CO2”. Most people understand this basic physiological and anatomical process.

Here’s what is so interesting about this. While oxygen is very beneficial to our health, carbon dioxide is not.

How dangerous is this human exhalant?

If breathed in, concentrations of more than 10 percent can cause a person to convulse, become comatose, and even die. Now we know why it has to be exhausted from the body.

So looked at as a whole, we can see how we breathe in the good and exhale the bad. Or in other words, we take the good in and get rid of the bad.

As we look at our scripture passage for today, we see this principle in play in a spiritual sense.

Here we find the word of God providing believers direction as to behaviors they should adopt and ones they should discard. Or put another way, in with the good and out with the bad.

As for the good, note that it’s simple. We’re to take in the Word of the Lord (aka the scriptures) with complete humility, surrendering our own will for the will of God while allowing the Word to first be sown, and then take root within us.

In other words, we’re to breathe in the words of the Bible, words that bring us true life now and eternally, words that save us.

That’s what we’re to take in but note that we’re also required to rid ourselves of elements that would harm us. Just as we physically breathe out CO2 that could damage our minds and kill us, so too do we spiritually rid ourselves of moral filth and evil, both found in copious quantities within the world we live.

The better and stronger our intake of God’s word, the better and stronger we are at discarding sin from our lives. Righteousness displaces wickedness and we become spiritually healthy in the Lord.

Friends, the scriptures are giving us critical guidance in just a single verse today. Now we have to commit ourselves to be obedient to it. It’s time to take in the good and get rid of the bad in our lives for the Lord demands that we do so.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com