Just Some Thoughts

Before I went for a walk this evening (thankfully got back before the storm) I read a bit out of Adventist Home. I just want to share some of the quotes with you - it is a little long, but do read read each quote.

"Satan is using every means to make crime and degrading vice popular." ~AH 406

"'We are in the world,' they say, 'and we cannot get out of it.' But, parents, we can get a good way out of the world, if we choose to do so." ~AH 406

"To the active minds of children and youth the scenes pictured in imaginary revelations of the future are realities." [Italics supplied] ~AH 407

"Like the body, the mind derives its strength from the food it receives. It is broadened and elevated by pure, strengthening thoughts; but it is narrowed and debased by thoughts that are of the earth earthy." ~AH 410

"Only by the inculcation of right principles can you exclude wrong thoughts." ~AH 410

"Do not permit upon your tables the magazines and newspapers in which are found love stories. Supply their place with books that will help the youth to put into their character-building the very best material-the love and fear of God, the knowledge of Christ. Encourage your children to store the mind with valuable knowledge, to let that which is good occupy the soul and control its powers, leaving no place for low, debasing thoughts...To those who feel free to read story magazines and novels I would say: You are sowing seed the harvest of which you will not care to garner...Through the agency of novels and story magazines, Satan is working to fill with unreal and trivial thoughts minds that should be diligently studying the word of God. Thus he is robbing thousands upon thousands of the time and energy and self-discipline demanded by the stern problems of life." ~AH 410, 411

"No effort should be spared to establish right habits of study. If the mind wanders, bring it back. If the intellectual and moral tastes have been perverted by overwrought and exciting tales of fiction so that there is a disinclination to apply the mind, there is a battle to be fought to overcome this habit." ~AH 411

"The readers of fiction are indulging an evil that destroys spirituality, eclipsing the beauty of the sacred page...Works of romance, fivolous, exciting tales, are, in hardly less degree, a curse to the reader. The author may profess to teach a moral lesson; throughout his work he may interweave religious sentiments, but often these only serve to veil the folly and worthlessness beneath." ~AH 412, 413

"How can Christian parents permit their children to use books so filled with falsehood? When the children ask the meaning of stories so contrary to the teaching of their parents, the answer is that the stories are not true; but this does not do away with the evil results of their use." ~AH 413

"Oh, that the young would reflect upon the influence which exciting stories have upon the mind! Can you, after such reading, open the word of God and read the words of life with interest? Do you not find the book of God uninteresting? The charm of that love story is upon the mind, destroying its healthy tone and making it impossible for you to fix your mind upon the important, solemn truths which concern your eternal interest." ~AH 416

"You cannot build a right character by bringing to the foundation wood, hay, and stubble." ~AH 417 (Lt 32, 1896)

"Unceasing care is needed in cultivating the soil of the mind and sowing it with the precious seed of Bible truth. Children should be taught to reject trashy, exciting tales and to turn to sensible reading, which will lead the mind to take an interest in Bible story, history, and argument. Reading that will throw light upon the Sacred Volumne and quicken the desire to study it is not dangerous, but beneficial. It is impossible for the youth to possess a healthy tone of mind and correct religious principles unless they enjoy the perusal of the word of God." ~AH 417

Well, those statements are pretty clear. May I ask, are the pinciples that one can find in these statements about what the Christian should and shouldn't be reading, are these principles applicable to other areas of life?

What about computer games and movies? What if rather than playing a game, Christians studied the Bible. What if rather than going to see a new movie, or renting a classic, or buying that crazy film - what if Christians studied the Bible - what would be the difference?

"Say firmly: 'I will not spend precious moments in reading that which will be of no profit to me, and which only unfits me to be of service to others. I will devote my time and my thoughts to acquiring a fitness for God's service. I will close my eyes to frivolous and sinful things. My ears are the Lord's, and I will not listen to the subtle reasoning of the enemy. My voice shall not in any way be subject to a will that is not under the influence of the Spirit of God. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and every power of my being shall be consecrated to worthy pursuits." ~AH409 (7T 64)