what goes in must come out

Most people wouldn't expect this from me but I have a tendency to be a sci-fi junkie.  No, I don't know the how the language of Clingon (or however that's supposed to be spelled) or go to StarTrek conventions, but I do watch countless hours of mindless, brainless episodes of Fringe and the X-Files.

You won't find me making an apology of that.  I enjoy futuristic-conspiracy-ridden-seemingly-impossible television.

It makes life so much more interesting.

If I'm going to watch tv might as well make it worth my time.

But there's this principle of growing that keeps coming back to haunt me.  What I put in the ground will grow.  How I care for the ground will effect the result of the crop.  What I harvest is how people will know who I am.

So...the more I plant futuristic-conspiracy-ridden-seemingly-impossible television into the soil of my mind the more the doubt will grow.  The darker the soil will become, but not with rich nutriate filled earth, but with diseased, dry sandy soil.  Those are not good factures for the harvest at all.

Here's the truth...
 What I put in my mind will come out in my life.  I really can't afford to have the junk on television, movies, music, magazines come out in a negative way.  I have to protect the fruit in my life.

In Matthew 7, Jesus was teaching about false prophets.  He said, "By their fruit you will recognize them...every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

I think we can reason that if we are to distinguish false prophets by their fruits that when I examine my own life it's fruit should be good fruit too.

And sometimes I'm not certain that you would find good fruit in my life.

So how can I change it?  What can I do to change my fruit?

Right or wrong people judge us.  They do.  There's no way around it.  I don't want anything in my life to keep people from seeing the love Christ has for them.

Not my cynicism.  Not my past.  Not my negativity.  Nothing.

And I think giving up a few hours of media (that makes me cynical) a week so I can read...

study...

pray...

praise...

...is well worth the price.

I'm committed to this...to pointing others to Christ...to producing better fruit...to just growing more intellectually.

What about you?