National Reading Awareness Month

Are you familiar with the phrase “garbage in, garbage out”?  It was first recorded in 1957 from a newspaper article about US Army mathematicians who emphasized the importance of high-quality input data in computer science and data processing.   The concept is that even a correctly designed machine cannot produce correct results from incorrect data. 

The month of March is National Reading Awareness Month and I started thinking…while we are human beings and not machines, the thought process is still the same. Psalm 139:14 tells us … “[we are] fearfully and wonderfully made.” (NIV) The NLT says, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous and how well I know it.”  If we believe we are fearfully and wonderfully made or “correctly designed” as the article states, then that means what we put in or allow in our minds and lives matters too.  If our input is poor, unhealthy or untrue, then the result (our lives) reflect that.  The output reflects the input. 

What we fill our minds with, what we read, watch, listen to and dwell on influences our heart, mind and life.  Every single day we take things in.  We read books, blogs, scroll through social media. We watch the news, television shows, listen to music and absorb conversations all around us. Do we even realize that every single one of these things shape our thoughts, attitudes and responses?

Jesus spoke to this when He said, “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say. Luke 6:43-45 (NLT).  Our words, actions and even our outlook on life are often the overflow of what we fill ourselves with.  This does not mean we need to live in fear of everything we encounter, but it does invite us to be aware.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Phillipi, encouraged believers to “Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”  Philippians 4:8 (NLT).  In other words, fill your mind with things that reflect the character of God.  When we spend time in Scripture, read things that encourage our faith, and surround ourselves with words that bring life, something beautiful happens. Our thoughts begin to shift. Our perspective changes. Our responses become more patient, more gracious, more Christ-like. 

Let’s take a moment and consider what we are filling our minds with. What we read has the power to shape our thinking, deepen our faith, and point our hearts back to God. As you pick up your next book, devotion, or passage of Scripture, remember this simple truth: when we fill our hearts with what is good and true, it will naturally overflow into the way we live. That is the kind of “output” that blesses not only our lives, but the lives of those around us.

-Wendy Reynolds