The Christian's Spamblocker

Like most of you, I have a spamblocker on my email. It keeps most of the unwanted spam from ever getting to me. This way my inbox only has about sixty emails a day rather than whatever the number would be without the spamblocker. I can only imagine.

Of course, I peruse that list occasionally to see if an email I want was blocked. I only find one of these blocked but wanted emails every few weeks. The efficiency of the spamblocker makes my inspection unnecessary most weeks.

Spamblockers keep our email flowing more smoothly. They make our time more productive. They keep us on task. They keep us from being distracted by those who offer deals too good to be true. They do their best to make sure that the emails we receive are pertinent to what we need. I appreciate my spamblocker.

It is amazing how many people don't have spamblockers for their lives. They do not filter anything that comes in. For example, I have Netflix. I am on the "one movie at a time" plan but I also have the ability to stream movies to my tv. Last night I streamed a series that I thought would be interesting. I watched about twenty minutes of it, realized that it had inappropriate material, stopped the streaming and deleted the series. I didn't need those images and that content in my memories. I know that the images of sin will cause me to permit more sin. I do not understand how I can please my Lord and participate in sin. Therefore, I "blocked" those images from getting to me.

I went to work with my wife yesterday. I sat in a hospital waiting area or the cafeteria, read and watched people. One man whom I saw several times would use "Jesus Christ" as an expletive. I wondered why he would allow the Savior to become just a word. Jesus said that our words reveal our hearts. His continued verbal explosions were damaging and revealing his heart at the same time. He needed a blocker to keep that from ever happening. He said it often and loudly as if he were proud that he could say the name of Jesus in such a disrespectful way.

One of my daughters called me when she was a sleepover with friends years ago. (I think she was ten or eleven.) They were about to watch an "R" rated movie and she wanted to know if it was okay. I told her that we don't watch those types of movies but I thanked her for calling. She knew not to watch the movie but she needed her dad to be her excuse for not watching it. Peer pressure can get you into all types of trouble. She needed a "blocker" to give her permission to say "no." She would have been forced to watch something she didn't want to watch if I had not blocked her from it. I don't know how her friends responded to my action. She never complained to me about the matter.

What is the Christian's spamblocker? What keeps the Christian from participating with the world in things that are harmful? It is the mind that is set on the Holy Spirit. When we set our minds on Him, we will not give into the desires of our flesh. What you will block and what you will allow will reveal if you are setting your mind upon the Spirit. It brings life and peace.

Romans 8:5-8 (ESV)
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds of the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. Fore the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.