Blame GIGO… Garbage In Garbage Out!
Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
The question of the day (seems like everyday!) is… Who or what is to blame for ALL OF THE GARBAGE going on in our world?
The EYES have it… the technical term being GIGO… Garbage In Garbage Out… the things that proceed out of the mouth comes from the heart, and those defile the man. (Matthew 15:18)
What’s in YOUR heart today? Or an even better question… WHO’s in your heart today? Who do you see as the one you DESIRE most to please. Who do you regard as the EXPERT on all things you? Who do you consult when your heart is cracked and your world is less than the perfect world you had in mind? Who do you BLAME when it isn’t? I would venture to guess it would be everyone and anyone EXCEPT yourself and the choices you build your castles on?
If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Consumed by GIGO! Who is to blame for all the garbage?
The truly evil one… our adversary, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:15)?
The people who disagree with “us” (the truly informed ones)… our perceived adversaries, the ones we try to bite and devour? ** Just a note to ourselves and our neighbors on the right and left of us take care that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:15)
Or do we secretly (and sometimes vocally) blame God… EVEN THOUGH we take every opportunity to kick Him out and keep Him out of our lives – our children’s lives – and our society’s lives.
After all… He didn’t/doesn’t keep us from all pain and suffering… so, what good is He?
Zechariah 7:12-13 They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets;
In this world… in this country… in this society WE (every one of us) have built, there is a SOP (standard operating procedure) of setting our hearts like flint!
Right or wrong, whatever I choose to build my life on, I will stake my heart, my mind, and my soul on it. I will NEVER admit WRONG or wrongdoing, NEVER change my choice and NEVER let you see my fear of the end of all things self!
There is indeed an end! We see – we choose – we act! Then comes the results!
And after the results (the fruit of our labor)… the end we fear the most… comes JUDGEMENT! (Please let me be the judge, jury and executioner!)
Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
I wanted good things – good times – good results… I worked hard for good things – good times – good results… I believed it was all good!
Operative word here is I… I wanted. I worked. I believed.
Now add billions of I’s together and see who is in control of the definition of “good”.
THIS does NOT MAKE ME HAPPY! “Fault Finder, find the guilty bearer of fault for all our UN-HAPPINESS and we will GO TO WAR! I will fight to the death (preferably your death… just saying) for our RIGHT to HAPPINESS!”
James 4:1-3 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel.
Can we talk? Laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE OF YOU with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25) We only have ourselves to blame for what we allow to fill our hearts!
Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
GIGO input… insatiable pleasure, lust, envy. GIGO output… war, murder, fights and quarrels.
Or…
TIFO input… God’s word, following Jesus. TIFO output… knowing and being freed by the truth.
You do the math and choose!
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
Who’s to blame for our garbage? The one who CHOOSES the treasure!
Me, you, we, choose what to fill our lives (our treasure chest) with… the only thing we have to give is from that treasure chest.
Satan offers, from his treasure chest of evil, pure hatred.
God offers, from His treasure chest of perfect goodness, pure love!
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33) He won’t always give us HAPPINESS but He will always give us HIMSELF!
GIGO… You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:2-3)
TIFO… His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm 119:105)
Whether you believe in Him or not, whether you agree with Him or not, whether you trust Him or not, the truth is… He IS, WAS, and always WILL BE!
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible