Keep your filters clean

My vacuum had an issue today. It wasn’t working like it should. A vacuum sucks up dirt and deposits into the collection bin. The vacuum’s motor needs to breath to work properly. The designers added filters to catch dust before it’s sucked into the wrong places of the machine. If these filters get clogged the motor loses some of it power and cannot pick up the dirt as easily. The bin that catches the dirt needs to be emptied regularly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tell you all that because as I got frustrated when the vacuum wasn’t strongly sucking up debris. I looked at the full canister and dirty filters and I thought about hearts. You may be frowning now, thinking I have lost my marbles. What does a heart have to do with a vacuum?

Our bodies suck in things.

We breathe in air. I love to smell the grass after it’s just been mowed. Flowers, especially roses, are wonderful to take a whiff of. But some flowers can make a person sneeze. I bet you love to smell your favorite food cooking. Perfume can remind you of someone. Even with a blind fold on you could know what kind of a store you were in if it was a chocolate store. Coffee lures people by its smell.

We swallow food and drink. Sometimes we need to ingest medicine when we are sick. Our favorite food is gobbled yet we can hardly choke down what we don’t like.

Ears pick up sounds and conversations. I know its spring when I hear the birds chirping. Music can fill your ears and change your mood. Some sounds are pleasant and make you smile. A baby’s laugh will make you laugh. You can guess a scary part is coming on a movie when you hear the creepy music. A simple “I love you” can make your day.

Information comes in through our touch—soft, hard, cold, hot, bumpy, or smooth.

Eyes take in an incredible amount. We see on people’s faces how they are feeling. Words on a page come to life as we read them. Television, movies, and video games entertain us through our eyes. Colors around us come alive and we know the wind is blowing because we see the trees move.

Our bodies were made to take in an incredible amount of stimulus and information. The problem with that is we can become over loaded with too much information or the information can be harmful.

Your ears may hear something mean said about another person—gossip.  The ear can pick up angry words which hurt. You may accidentally or on purpose hear a secret that now is difficult to keep.

Ears and especially eyes have the greatest risks. Damage to our hearts can come through our ears and eyes. If we hear or see something we shouldn’t it gets burned into our brain. We will have a difficult time forgetting it.

Our heart is like a vacuum. The heart takes in experiences through our senses. Eyes, ears, smell, taste, and touch are like filters. The filters catch things and through them we experience things. Those experiences can be cleansing or damaging. Are your filters clogged with harmful things that get into your heart? We need to be careful what kinds of things we are hearing, seeing, and doing. Movies are both sound and images. Be careful what you watch. Computers can be a wonderful tool or a hazard to your heart. People and places can be wonderful or harmful.

I looked into my vacuum filters and they were covered in dust and the motor could not breathe well. I had to take out the filters and clean them to make the motor breathe and the vacuum to do what it was designed to do.

When we take in garbage through our eyes and ears, our hearts and minds get clogged with dirt. It’s harder to get the filth out of our hearts and minds. We can’t hose them off. We can turn to the Lord to help us by praying and reading His word, the Bible.

When harmful images or words come flooding back in our minds, we need to stop and pray. Ask the Lord to help you forget them and then read something wholesome and good. The Bible or bible stories are a great way to escape to a magnificent peaceful place.

The best way to protect your eyes and ears is to not go there. Don’t participate in things that muddy up your heart and mind. Run from them. Your parent probably has given you precautions or instructions as to what you should or shouldn’t do. There may be people you should stay away from, T.V. shows that may harm you, or activities you should not do. The Lord gave you parents, grandparents, and guardians to help steer you toward good and healthful things and away from rotten things. Here is a picture of me and friends next to a statue that is the monkeys: SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, AND SAY NO EVIL.

 

The Lord wants us to have a clean heart. This includes memorizing and knowing God’s word in your heart. You can have a clean heart by first accepting Jesus as your Savior. Second, by making and keeping a close relationship with Him.

This reminds me of a song I sang as a child. After you are given permission from your parent, guardian, or teacher you can listen:

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes

Memorize one or both: James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Job 22:22 Receive, please, instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated