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What we consume will affect us in every area of life. Drink dirty water, get sick. Eat a roadside breakfast burrito, probably get sicker. But, why is it we so often forget to think about what we’re consuming on the mental, emotional, and spiritual side? This plan will help us learn to more carefully filter what we allow into our hearts and minds. 

Christ’s Church of the Valley

Day 1

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23

BAD WATER

I love backpacking! I’m not sure if you’ve ever been, but I highly recommend it. There is just something about putting everything you need to survive on your back, hiking miles away from any road, and then just surviving in the wilderness for days at a time. But, if you’re in that situation for more than a couple days, you’re eventually going to have to replenish your water supply. It’s simple: humans need water to survive, you can only carry so much water with you (because water is heavy), so you’ll have to find some more while you’re back there. 

This is where a crucial piece of gear comes into play – a water filter. It would be absolute madness to find a creek, fill up your hydro, and start chugging. The water may look clear, it will be crisp and cool, but a few hours later you will quite possibly be sicker than you’ve ever been in your whole life. The reason? That water source you found is also used by all the animals that call that area home. They walk down to the stream, bring their whole families along, and spend some time drinking, bathing, probably going to the bathroom nearby (or even right in the river). That clear and cool water you’re looking at is potentially packed full of microscopic parasites that will make you terribly sick. So, if you’re ever backpacking in the wilderness, you would be insane to not bring a water filter!

What does that have to do with the next 5 days of our time together in the Bible? Well, our souls are kind of in the same situation. Every day we take in hundreds and thousands of pieces of information. Stuff we see in our social media feeds, news alerts on our phone, music in our earbuds – we are constantly “drinking” from this river of content. And if we don’t take some time to filter what we allow in, it can make us spiritually sick. 

So today, as we start this plan, I want to challenge you to begin thinking about what you’ve been taking in. Where might you need to start filtering what you’re watching, listening to, or reading? We’ll talk more about how as the week goes on, but begin to identify the spiritual “parasites” that may be hiding in the content you’re ingesting so that you can be prepared to filter them out for the health of your soul. 

Day 2

Scripture: Psalms 1

WEB OF INFLUENCE

We live in a world that our grandparents could never have imagined. As a species, we’ve never before been so connected to people, information, and ideas from all over the world. If you want to know anything, you can find the answer on your phone in a matter of seconds (thanks, Siri). While there are certainly some benefits to having so much information at our fingertips, it also poses some very real dangers. We are constantly bombarded with people’s opinions, statements presented as truth (without proper evidence to back it up, much of the time), and an increasingly polarized and hostile culture. If we don’t train ourselves to pay attention and filter what comes into our minds, we’ll end up confused, angry, and probably a little scared. 

You see, we used to just have to focus on who was directly around us. Perhaps you’ve heard the advice/warning, “you will become who you hang out with.” And while that’s still true, we now also have to pay attention to who you’re “hanging out with” on a global/digital scale. That influencer who shows up in your feed with deep-sounding posts and perfect pictures is a voice into your world. How much and what kind of news you’re digesting in the midst of global chaos will affect you. It is now quite possible to sit all alone in your room but still be “hanging out” with a massive group of what the Bible calls “mockers” (another word for “fools”).

Here’s the truth: everyone is entitled to their opinion, and freedom of speech is a gift to our society, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for us to constantly ingest everyone’sopinions, passionate rants, or 24-hour negativity on demand. Everything we read, see, or hear should be put through the filter of “does this line up with what Godsays?” That’s the question we need to get really good at asking, and it should become second-nature for us. If there is someone or someplace in your digital world that is consistently putting out content that doesn’t line up with what God says, maybe it’s time to filter that out of your life. Unfollow, unsubscribe, block, whatever digital action you have to take, it does you zero good to keep taking in that content!

The passage you’re about to read is short and to the point: who you hang out with (even digitally) will affect you spiritually. Pay close attention to who you’re letting speak into your life. No musician, social media influencer, or celebrity is worth polluting your soul just because they’re trending right now. Choose to focus on content that lines up with what God says, and I promise you’ll find yourself much more at peace. 

Day 3

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

THE PIRATE LOOK

We are visual creatures! Through our phones, tablets, laptops, and TVs, we see thousands of images and video clips every single day. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, it’s just the way things are today. As we talk about filtering what comes into our minds and hearts, we have to take some time looking at (see what I did there?) what we allow ourselves to see. 

Jesus actually spoke really clear about this in his most famous sermon ever (The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7). One of the things that people loved about Jesus’ teaching was that he didn’t shy away from tough issues – he told people the truth. And he tackled this issue of our eyes head-on in Matthew 5. You’ll read it in a second, but essentially, he’s dealing with lust and says that if your eye causes you to sin, it’d be better to gouge it out and throw it away. That’s right, he says that if you keep looking at stuff that causes you to sin, better to rock the pirate look the rest of your life than to just keep looking. Okay, hold on, nobody hurt their eyes.

Jesus is using hyperbole to make a point. He’s recognizing that we are visual creatures and that we are going to struggle with what we look at (and he was talking to a pre-smartphone audience). So, he told them to take whatever was causing them to lust – that thing that kept tripping them up over and over – and to get rid of it. Don’t try to be stronger, don’t try to resist one more time, just make it so you can’t see that thing anymore. 

So, in our modern context, what does “gouging out your eye” look like? Well, maybe there are some apps you need to delete from your phone. What restrictions do you need someone you trust to put into place for you? Where are you finding these things you don’t feel good about looking at, and how can you block them? Today, reach out to a friend, coach, or maybe a parent and ask them to help you protect your eyes. (You know, so you don’t have to wear an eyepatch for the rest of your life.)

Side note: when you read the part about being thrown into hell, he is NOT saying that if you lust you’re going to hell. He’s talking about the downward spiral lust (or any sin) can lead you on where you fall deeper and deeper into it and ultimately CHOOSE to reject Jesus.

Day 4

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

DETOXING

Okay, we’ve talked a lot about filtering and guarding our eyes, hearts, minds, and souls from the barrage of content we face every day, but what can we do about the stuff that’s already in there? I mean, if you drink unfiltered water from a stream and find yourself back at camp sicker than ever, there has to be something you can do to start getting better, right? Well, with the water analogy, it’s pretty much just time and fluids that will get you better, but for our hearts and minds, there are some proactive things we can do to flush out the old parasites and clean things up a bit.

I’d like to recommend a two-part approach to this process that comes straight from the two verses you’re about to read in Romans 12. The first is to surrender your mind, heart, and soul to God. When it says to “offer yourselves as a living sacrifice,” that’s what it’s talking about. Essentially, you say, “God, I’m all yours. Whatever you want with my life, whatever you want me to do, say, think, watch – I’m in.” That is the first and most crucial step. Because if we just start filtering everything and trying really, really hard, it’s like running on a treadmill, a lot of work gets done, but no real progress is made. That’s because we have to approach purifying ourselves through the lens of grace. We can’t do it on our own; it is only Jesus’ work on the cross that makes us clean.

But, simply going to God and surrendering isn’t going to clean up our minds right away. There are years of old habits, bad memories, and polluting content rattling around between our ears, and we’re going to have to flush those out. That’s where the second part comes in, and it’s based on verse 2. We have to renew our minds. As we begin to live a different way and seek transformation, we actively have to put new, better stuff in our minds. What does that mean? Well, you’re already doing one of the key steps as we speak – like, right now. Reading God’s Word every day is a huge key to flushing all the old junk out of our minds. It also gives us greater insight into what God is really like and what he really says, which helps us have a better filter for knowing what content we should or shouldn’t let into our lives. That’s what the last part of verse 2 is hinting at when it says “then we’ll know what God’s will is.”

So, today, let me challenge you to do a “power-washing” of your mind. Yes, you’re about to read a bit of the Bible, but don’t let that be all you do today. Find yourself a good worship album and run that through your earbuds. After the assigned reading, maybe just pick another spot in the Bible and read for a bit. Find a good Christian book (ask for recommendations from your Student Pastor) and start reading. Yes, you can do an audiobook if you hate reading. Start filling your head with as much God-content as you can, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly that renewing of the mind starts to happen.  

Day 5

Scripture: Philippians 4:8

OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE

Okay, we’ve crammed a lot of stuff into five days, and hopefully, you’ve already been experiencing some increased closeness with God, maybe a reduction in your own anxiety or negativity. It’s amazing how a few simple steps can lead to some pretty major transformation. Today, I want to leave you with one more shift in your mindset. The first part of this plan dealt a lot with playing defense. Essentially, there’s a tidal wave of media and influences coming your way, and it’s up to you to filter through them and try to avoid the worst of it. Yes, that is true but it’s not the whole story.

We can actually play offense in this battle for our hearts and minds. We don’t have to sit there frantically trying to fend off all these different things vying for our attention. We can proactively set our minds on the things God wants us to focus on. Here’s the secret to how this works: when you actively focus your mind on the right stuff, it makes it so you hardly even notice the wrong stuff. The mind is incapable of truly focusing on two things simultaneously (sorry, self-proclaimed multi-taskers). If you are actively focusing your mind on the things of God (which you’ll see a great list of in today’s passage), then your mind can’t simultaneously focus on all the other junk that’s out there.

Now, this can certainly be a minute-by-minute battle, because let’s face it, we are generally highly distractible people. I don’t know how many times I start out trying to pray or focus on something God wants me to focus on, and then without me even being aware of it, my mind has suddenly shifted to something totally different. It could be triggered by an alert on my phone, a banner ad on a website, or even just my own mind wandering off, but all of a sudden, I’m focused on all the wrong stuff. That’s okay, it happens to all of us. The trick is to catch it, refocus your mind, and get back on the right track. 

Today’s passage contains a terrific list of the kinds of things we should focus on. I would challenge you to take some time, get something to write with, and make a list. Write down all the keywords of this passage (true, noble, right, etc.), and then next to each word, start writing specific examples of things that fall into that category. So, you’d write “true,” and then next to it perhaps you’d list, “God’s unfailing love for me, I am uniquely created by God, my parents love me no matter what …” It could be whatever comes to mind, but I think you get the idea. Once you have your list all written out, save it, put it somewhere you can refer back to it again and again. The more you can focus your mind on everything on that list, the less you’ll even be able to see all the junk you’re trying to avoid.