Unpleasant Exits

I’m sure most of you have experienced the tragedy that occurs when foods have an adverse or unfavorable affect on your stomach’s digestive cycle! And despite how ‘succulent’ the meat was or how delightful the meal felt as it tickled your taste buds and proceeded down your esophagus to dwell in your stomach, after some time your body is racked with painful cries and you’re consumed with thoughts of being alone in that ‘special place’ known as the bathroom.

You try to find comfort in your ‘special place’ to prepare for what seems will likely be an unpleasant exit, and you’re nothing short of disgusted as you begin to feel your salivary glands prepare your mouth for what’s about to come. These fluids are nothing like the ones that fill your mouth when you’re anticipating the taste of a freshly grilled steak; no, this sensation is less enjoyable, because what follows is that unpleasant stomach eruption. Like a volcano, your body sends all of your recently digested foods and liquids back up into your mouth. Agghhh, how nauseating! And the sight of your dinner lava is considerably less appealing than it was before it went down.

Similarly, sin-infested agents like messages and even events can, at first exposure, seem as luscious as a flame-grilled steak. Those girlfriends or boyfriends we choose to date, those places we enjoy visiting in order to participate in the festivities they offer. The shows and music we “love”; the books we read. Mentally and emotionally, we naturally ‘water-up’ to the scents and aromas of these agents, are we’re often drawn into partaking of what there is to offer. Only to find out that those sin-infested agents will soon cause quite an explosion in our lifestyles.

“What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’…Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” Matthew 15:11-12; 17-19

Yes, the agents we consume in our lives may not be ‘unclean’ in and of themselves, but the messages they are infected with are what pollute us. For example, The Ambassador (of Cross Movement Records ministry), proclaims Hip Hop music (like every other genre) to simply be a tool or a container. If the ‘container’ is filled with negative, truth-less messages (liquid) and we choose to guzzle those messages, we have contaminated our systems and now, those messages are forced to exit in an ‘unpleasant manner’, thus producing evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, lying etc.

It is to the believer’s advantage that we have the Holy Spirit who serves as our Nutritionist (if you will) and “Dietary Help-mate”. He has access to the kitchens of our world. He takes only what He gets from the Father and shares it with us…preparing succulent meals to feast upon. If we could tune our spiritual senses to the menu He has lain before us, which is God’s Word, we may be exempt from having to experience recurring and painful incidents of unpleasant exits.

“I have hidden (chosen to consume) your Word (healthy menu) in my heart (my frail body), that I might not sin (experience unpleasant exits) against you.” Psalm 119:11