I think it behooves us all to remember to periodically clean our filters. Our spiritual filters will periodically get gummed up with everyday pollutants and much like the filters in our HVAC system, if we ignore or defer this periodic maintenance, the (our) system will eventually begin to fail because it will no longer be able to filter properly, allowing dust and ‘other’ contaminants to get into the ‘heart’ of the (our) system.

What we take in through our eyes and ears affects what we say, what we do and where we go. Ultimately, it touches the state of our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, everything you do flows from it.”

We are incessantly inundated and bombarded with positive and negative input from news media, social media, opinions, traditions, expectations, and culture, all vying for attention. What we choose to let in and/or keep out depends solely upon the cleanliness of our filters because a clean filter separates what you want to discard and what you want to use and the cleaner we keep our filters, the less dirt we’ll need to clean out of our hearts. At the end of the day, we don’t have to re-invent the wheel. God has already provided a filter cleaning solution found in Psalm 51:10.

All we have to do is regularly ask God to ‘create in us a pure heart and renew in us a steadfast spirit’.

Now if you’ll please excuse me, I have some filters that need my attention!