G.I.G.O.

“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers” (Psalm1:3).

Most are familiar with the old adage, “Garbage In Garbage Out” (G.I.G.O.). The acrostic holds special significance with computer programmers and designers who actually coined the phrase as it pertains to the reality that a computer will yield output based upon that which is input. I submit the same is true of our lives, especially as we give heed to the words of the psalmist.

“Which yields its fruit in its season.” Fruit-bearing is the natural result of healthy growth in the tree. If the tree is in the right soil, receiving the right water, then it will be fruitful!

According to this Psalm, we can be like that tree! God’s plan for us is fruitfulness. That is, Christlike character and choices can be the natural outflow of our lives! The life of a follower of Jesus is not intended to be a matter of whether there is enough willpower to live the way one should. Rather, He wants to change our inner life so much that His way of living (the fruit of the tree) is the natural outflow of what He is doing inside us!

How? When we prune out of our lives those things that pour the world’s way of thinking into us, and we focus our lives on what Jesus is saying to us in His Word, then our minds are renewed, our inner life is transformed, and what is happening on the inside of us shows up on the outside of us.

What fruit is showing in your life? What fruit would you like to see ripen? We must examine carefully what is going into our lives. Please consider these. What goes in your life through your ears by way of music? What goes in your life through your eyes by way of television, movies, reading material? Rest assured, G.I.G.O. is very relevant. If what we listen to; watch; read; and entertain in our minds is not pleasing to our Master, there is no way to prevent that unpleasing fruit from coming out in some area of our lives. Our lives are too important and our mission too great to allow ourselves to be influenced by the garbage of the world. If we want Christ to be continually flowing out of us, we must make the choice to continually allow Him to flow in us by eliminating any inflow that is not pleasing to Him. Easy to understand, but harder to execute! However, it is very much worth it!

                                                     Pray with Me:

Lord Jesus, I desire for my life to be a continual reflection of you and your holiness. Help me quickly identify those things I allow into my life that are not pleasing to you so I may eliminate them. I recognize that no one can serve two masters and that if I’m not reflecting you I am reflecting the darkness of the world and the fruit of the Enemy. Fill me today, and strip away those things that prevent me from your infilling. Amen.