I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. Psalm 103: 31
David's vow not to look at anything unholy seems almost impossible at times. There is so much that is unholy in our world. Everything in the news is about someone's transgression. Have you ever noticed that rarely (if ever) is anything positive reported in the news? It almost seems that people are interested only in what someone has done wrong. One can not drive down the interstate or walk down the street without seeing advertisements for ungodly businesses and scantily clad persons. And this is not even discussing the evils of television! It seems no subject is so taboo that it is not blatantly portrayed on the big screen. Nor is it confined to television. With the internet on every phone and handheld device we own, there is evil at the touch of a button almost anywhere we are. We are truly surrounded by evil on every side and, if we let ourselves be, we can feel overwhelmed by it. The writer of Ecclesiastes knew this feeling when he wrote, "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). In writing this he allowed himself to be overwhelmed by his surroundings.
The Christian we must remind himself that this isn't true. Our world may be evil, but it has always been so. The same writer of Ecclesiastes said, "There is no new thing under the sun." In every generation God's people have had some evil to contend with. Yet we can say with the Apostle John, "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world" (I John 4:4). WWII holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom made this statement about her time in a Nazi prison camp: "The great ploy of the enemy is to display such blatant evil around me that I think my sins do not matter." The modern day Christian must not fall to this ploy of the devil. Just because our world is filled with evil does not give us the excuse to allow things into our lives that we know are wrong. We must all make a fresh commitment (in the words of King David) to "set no evil thing before our eyes." The spirit of religiosity that is in our world says that we can participate in almost anything the world does and still be used of God. We must guard against this at any cost. Just because something feels good doesn't mean it is good. We must judge everything by the word of God.
Another ploy the enemy uses is to try to make us feel small and insignificant. He tells us that no one wants to hear that what they are doing is wrong. He tries to make us feel old fashioned for having ideas of Holiness and separation from the world. We are tempted to keep quiet in conversations where our voice would be the lone one that stands for Biblical values. We must not give in to this. If there was ever a time that our world needed the people of God to be bold it is now. To be bold does not mean to be unkind. We can speak the truth in love. Not speaking up when we know someone is voicing an opinion that is not Biblical is not being kind. It is allowing the person to be deceived. Our world needs a conscience and we as the church must be that conscience.
We are salt and light to our world and a city that is set on a hill can not be hid. It is time for us to be the city on the hill. Surely, there is darkness around us but the light of God's word shines brightest in the darkest of the night. With so much wickedness in our world, it's time for the church to shine. I challenge you, fellow Christian. Shine as brightly as you can. Your world depends upon it.
In Christ's Love,
Sullivan Jones
David's vow not to look at anything unholy seems almost impossible at times. There is so much that is unholy in our world. Everything in the news is about someone's transgression. Have you ever noticed that rarely (if ever) is anything positive reported in the news? It almost seems that people are interested only in what someone has done wrong. One can not drive down the interstate or walk down the street without seeing advertisements for ungodly businesses and scantily clad persons. And this is not even discussing the evils of television! It seems no subject is so taboo that it is not blatantly portrayed on the big screen. Nor is it confined to television. With the internet on every phone and handheld device we own, there is evil at the touch of a button almost anywhere we are. We are truly surrounded by evil on every side and, if we let ourselves be, we can feel overwhelmed by it. The writer of Ecclesiastes knew this feeling when he wrote, "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). In writing this he allowed himself to be overwhelmed by his surroundings.
The Christian we must remind himself that this isn't true. Our world may be evil, but it has always been so. The same writer of Ecclesiastes said, "There is no new thing under the sun." In every generation God's people have had some evil to contend with. Yet we can say with the Apostle John, "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world" (I John 4:4). WWII holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom made this statement about her time in a Nazi prison camp: "The great ploy of the enemy is to display such blatant evil around me that I think my sins do not matter." The modern day Christian must not fall to this ploy of the devil. Just because our world is filled with evil does not give us the excuse to allow things into our lives that we know are wrong. We must all make a fresh commitment (in the words of King David) to "set no evil thing before our eyes." The spirit of religiosity that is in our world says that we can participate in almost anything the world does and still be used of God. We must guard against this at any cost. Just because something feels good doesn't mean it is good. We must judge everything by the word of God.
Another ploy the enemy uses is to try to make us feel small and insignificant. He tells us that no one wants to hear that what they are doing is wrong. He tries to make us feel old fashioned for having ideas of Holiness and separation from the world. We are tempted to keep quiet in conversations where our voice would be the lone one that stands for Biblical values. We must not give in to this. If there was ever a time that our world needed the people of God to be bold it is now. To be bold does not mean to be unkind. We can speak the truth in love. Not speaking up when we know someone is voicing an opinion that is not Biblical is not being kind. It is allowing the person to be deceived. Our world needs a conscience and we as the church must be that conscience.
We are salt and light to our world and a city that is set on a hill can not be hid. It is time for us to be the city on the hill. Surely, there is darkness around us but the light of God's word shines brightest in the darkest of the night. With so much wickedness in our world, it's time for the church to shine. I challenge you, fellow Christian. Shine as brightly as you can. Your world depends upon it.
In Christ's Love,
Sullivan Jones
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