Watch Your Spiritual Carbs

(Proverbs 13:14 KJV)  The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

To receive the “fountain” (4726) of “life” (2425b) we need to avoid the “snares” (4170) set for us.

One trap is recognized if we look at both parts of the verse.  It would be the teaching of the foolish.  What do you read?  What do you listen to?  What (shudder) do you watch?  If you were honest and took the time, how many of these people giving input to your thinking are really based on the eternal wisdom of God and how many follow the current fads?  I really don’t care if your look is grunge, gothic or business casual.  I am concerned if your thinking is new-age, post-modern or multi-cultural. 

Satan lays “snares” for us everywhere.  Snares are placed in locations where prey is expected to be.  Earlier we talked about habits (verse 6).  If we follow the same habits of the world they we are easy to trap.  But if we follow the ways of righteousness we automatically go where no snares have been laid.  Satan expects us to be stupid and unthinking.  Surprise him.

It is possible that Satan cannot think outside the box.  He expects us to behave in certain sin-conditioned ways.  If we live lives of righteousness then we miss the worst that he has to offer.  Remember that the world does not understand us.  Why should we expect Satan to?  When he is waiting to catch your eye in the women’s lingerie section of the advertisements, he will miss you totally if you turn to the hardware section.  We must “turn aside” (5493) from the traps waiting for us.

So?  GIGO is also a spiritual term.  (For those who don’t get out much that stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out, a computer term.)  I have two books to count calories and nutrition, one at each end of the house.  Wouldn’t it be great if we had a book to evaluate how many spiritual carbs we were picking up?  Maybe the Bible would help.  Watch your input and the temptations will be reduced.