Picture this, it's 5:00 PM on a Saturday night. You're exhausted from a long day of binge-watching Tiger King on Netflix and listening to the latest album released by Post Malone. You decide to get out of the house and go grab some sushi. Unfortunately, you're on a budget. Budget sushi it is. 3 hours later you regret this decision as you projectile vomit the inner lining of your throat plus an odd mix of soy sauce, rice, and tuna into the toilet. Its graphic, but most importantly, nature got rid of the bad stuff in your body. God did a pretty good job of designing the human immune system, as it protects us from a lot of really ugly things that could cause a lot of harm. Fortunately, we don't even have to do much to make this happen, the body just does it.

1 Corinthians 10:23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.

In life, we consume a lot more than just food and water. We watch shows, we listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks, we listen to friends and neighbors, we read articles online, and surprisingly, some of us actually read books. That’s a lot to consume. But no matter what you are consuming, you are learning. Whether you are aware of it or not, all of those inputs are teaching you about how and what to speak, think, feel, and act. And just like food, what you consume is either improving your spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health or deteriorating it. Some things like budget sushi have a noticeable immediate effect on you, such as watching a scary movie can make you scared for days. You can feel the effect it has on your thoughts. But other things, like soda, can give you a mood boost and the short term effect feels positive with not much noticeable change physically. Just like a lot of music we listen to. Let's take Post Malone's song "rockstar" for instance, nearly everyone has heard it. The song sounds super dope, it's a bop for sure, here are the first lyrics:

"I've been fuckin' hoes and poppin' pillies Man, I feel just like a rockstar All my brothers got that gas And they always be smolin' like a Rasta"

Super cool. I'm certain you've listened to songs like this over and over and over. You probably don't realize what the lyrics are saying because they sound sweet, just like soda. But over time, it has an effect on you. Just like drinking soda every day leads to weight gain and type 2 diabetes, listening to music can also lead to you desiring and worshipping the lifestyle they sing about in their songs. Over and over you hear that sex, drugs, and money are the way, they are life. But as Christians, we know that those things ultimately lead to death. I personally know a couple of very successful men who pursued these things and were left with a sense of emptiness because they never experienced a genuine connection and love that Jesus gives.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I'm not saying that you need to stop listening and watching anything "wordly." But, consider trying it out. Challenge yourself to only listen to worship music for a month. Try learning something useful on YouTube or read the Bible instead of watching that show on Netflix.

Here are some questions as well:

Do you believe that the Bible is true?

Do you believe that God wants the best for you and his guidance for you is in the Bible?

Do you think Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" means that should listen and watch to whatever you want? Depends on what you want! If you want Jesus, what are you gonna be listening to?

Or do you think Proverbs 4:26 "Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways." means be careless and unintentional with the content you feed your mind?

Do you think that reading the Bible is better than watching TV?

Do you think listening to worship music instead of the latest pop song will be beneficial to your relationship with God?

Do you ever get songs stuck in your head? Like you constantly think about that one chorus or line? So consider Phillippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Were the characteristics of that chorus or line described in that verse?

What does the content you consume say about your relationship with God to outsiders?

What does Mark 12:30 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." mean in this context to you?

In conclusion, I just want to bring these questions and verses up not to just crash down and condemn you, but to hopefully make you start to think about what you are consuming. Why? Because Jesus wants a relationship with you. That doesn't mean he expects you to live a perfect life. That doesn't mean you have to be perfect to have a relationship with him. In fact, Jesus died on the cross because He knew that we can't live perfectly. It is good to live righteously, and it is hard to live righteously. The Law gives us guidelines to show us that we aren't perfect and we need God. Fortunately, as a follower of Christ, Jesus is alive in you, and you are made perfect through Him. So trust the Lord, be obedient to Him, seek to be uncomfortable in those things, get used to different, because the world wants you to just be the same.

Also, check out these verses: James 1:22-27, Colossians 3:5, Galatians 5:16-26, Matthew 6:33, and Romans 3:23.

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