A teen raises her hand in Bible class and asks, "How far can we go on a date?" An 11- year-old boy unwillingly hands over his iPod to his mother and exclaims, "Mom, that song is not that bad. It didn’t have any curse words in it!" As she listens to the song for herself, she finds that it encourages drunkenness. A college student starts attending a nondenominational church. When her dad asks her about what they teach there, she says, "Dad, they believe in Jesus just like we do."

What do all of these people have in common? They all exhibit a lack of discernment regarding what they take into their minds and hearts. When God created us in his own image, he always intended that we would think his thoughts. He never wanted us exposed to evil ideas much less stack them like cord wood in our minds. He wanted us to understand that his thoughts are truth and bring many blessings.

There is a saying in the computer world that applies to our minds, "Garbage in, garbage out." If you put garbage in the memory of a computer, it won't drain out later when you turn the computer off. It stays piled there until it is erased. It often comes out later to affect other computers connected to it on the Internet. We call them computer viruses. Just like computer viruses, worldly ideas infect people all over the world every day. God wants us to filter out what opposes his truth and would harm our faith. He wants us to be careful so we are not drawn away from his grace.

Spiritually mature people understand this. They put safeguards in place to guard their minds and lives from evil influences.

The writer to the Hebrews wanted his readers to start practicing discernment regarding all the worldly and wild religious ideas they were hearing. Let's study what he told them and reclaim for ourselves an aptitude for discernment. Read Hebrews 5:11-14 and answer the following questions.

Hebrews 5:11-14: "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

POINTS TO PONDER

1. After you read the entire passage, what clearly is God's goal for every Christian?