Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
2 Peter 3:1-2 NIV
Before I retired, I was a computer programmer. One of the expressions we used was “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” It essentially meant that the output quality of a program was directly related to the quality of the data fed into the program. If you give it inaccurate data, the results will also be incorrect. However, if you provided it with accurate data, then the output would also be correct.
And what is true of computers is also true of my life. When the input I provide to my mind is garbage, my thoughts and actions will tend toward rubbish. But when I consume wholesome input, I find it reflected in my thoughts and actions. I am, at least in part, a reflection of what I read, watch, and listen to.
Peter tells us here that he has written to stimulate us to wholesome thinking. And he goes beyond his letters to include the words of the prophets and the Lord Jesus as well. The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, provides the input we need to stimulate wholesome thinking. It is an input that will produce a quality output, a life pleasing to our Lord.
Invest quality time in God’s word. Read it regularly, even the hard-to-understand parts. Study it, seeking understanding. And meditate on it, allowing it to take root in your life. And, as you do, you will find your mind transformed (Rom. 12:2), resulting in wholesome thinking, which will result in wholesome actions.
