I used to work as an RF engineer on circuits that went into cell phones, two-way radios, and other communications devices.  I remember spending a whole lot of time on one simple thing--noise reduction.  We would intentionally design modules to reduce noise and thereby make the desired signal more prominent.

Lately I have been thinking about the fact that to be effective in life, we have to spend a certain amount of time on noise reduction.  In today's world of decreasing margins and jam-packed calendars, the message of Christ in us can easily get drowned out by all of the spurious happenings of each day.  If that message is to shine through more clearly, it takes some deliberate effort on our part.

Remember, God is sending a message through us to the world:

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV)

If you haven't seen this before, try it as a test.  Take 30 seconds and count the number of times the letter "F" appears in the statement below:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-

SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC

STUDY COMBINED WITH THE

EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS

Now, try it again with the "noise" reduced:

F            F 

          F             F             F

                   F 

It's much easier the second time, isn't it?