Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5
Do think the Lord really meant all and not just mostly? In today’s world with so many choices it seems we sometimes think it is ok to take “a little bad with the good”. Just think of our television viewing. It is more and more difficult to view a movie or a program or even commercials, that show you really — Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
But remembering this story entitled, “Dad’s Brownies” (author unknown) will certainly help all of see just how “a little bit of bad” can affect our choices… The family rule was no PG-13 or R-rated movies, yet the three teenage children wanted desperately to see the newest release which was a hit with their peers. In an effort to convince their father to let them see this blockbuster, they set up a list of pros and cons. They researched and found that there were only three bad words, no explicit sex (though some implied), and the only violence was a building exploding which could be seen on TV. These teens noted that all their friends had seen it; that the movie had a great plotline; that Hollywood’s finest actors were in it; that people at church said it wasn’t “very bad;” and that it would probably win many awards.
Their father asked to have time to think about it, and the following day, he had his reply. Calling in his teens, the father said that they could go to the movie if they would eat a brownie from the plate that he had set on the coffee table; yet he warned them that like the movie the brownies had pros and cons. The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of delicious walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.
The brownies only had one con. The father had included a little bit of a special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well he assured them, so they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop, and he had baked it at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed. Therefore, if any of his children could stand to eat these brownies which included just a “little bit of poop” and not be effected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with “just a little bit of smut” and not be affected.
My point is what we see, hear, touch and smell does affect us. It changes our relationship with Christ. The Bible says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
