Day 9 of No T.V.

Less hurried. I feel today like I'm living in a simpler time. Do you know, every day I complain of feeling overwhelmed and hurried? Every.single.day. And yet, right now, I feel no hurry...and very little pressure. Could it be that the frantic, adventurous lives of those we watch cause us to also feel this anxious, expectation-filled existence? I think so.

Today, instead of journaling about feelings, I have something on my heart to share with you--about what the word of God says about words--particularly Luke 8: 11.

Luke 8: 11 says, "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."

The parable of the sower and the seed is by far my favorite one and the parable I am most intimate with. I go back to it often and think about it nearly every day. Since starting on this journey I've also been thinking about other words and what they are. If seed in this parable is the word of God, what are other words? Are they seeds too?

I got to thinking about this and pondering it. What if every word we hear is a seed? And a seed that grows what exactly? Are we carefully choosing the seeds we allow into our "gardens"? And what is this garden...I mean, what do these word-seeds grow into?

Well, these questions started me on a very looooooong train of thought, but without going into a lot of detail, this is what I think:

Words are seeds to thought. Words of God are seeds to godly thought and therefor produce in your life right thinking, and therefor right actions and a good heart. Words of any kind produce thought, good words produce good thoughts, bad words produce bad thoughts, busy words produce busy thoughts, useless words produce useless thoughts, etc....and on it goes. We are surrounded by words, but the less we have control of what we hear, the less we have control over what we think! It is a really popular thing to believe that people should have their own thoughts on issues, but isn't this a misnomer? Does anyone ever have a thought totally their own? Don't all thoughts originate or at least grow from other's words and their thoughts from still other's words?

So to sum up--what thinking do you want to have? Do you want the world's brand of thinking? Do you want God's thoughts pulsing through your mind? Do you want wise thought ruling your life or useless, random facts? Is the choice yours? Are you allowing every word that's out there into your daily life? The t.v.? Every e-mail? Every facebook update? Every blog post? Every musical lyric? Every book/magazine/article? That's thousands of words a day!! And they are all producing, unbeknownst to us as we sit numbed by it all, THOUGHT!! Good thoughts, bad thoughts, and just random thoughts.

But, here's the important thing: Are the words of God, the thoughts He has in store for us to think (that can ultimately change us and the world around us) being crowded out by useless words???



These verses came to mind while thinking on all of this:

James 1: 26 "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Matt. 12: 34 "You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."   (WOW!)

Rom. 8: 6 "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."

1 Cor. 15: 33 "Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals."

Mark 4: 14 "The sower sows the word."

Matt 13: 22 "As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."