October 3rd brings me to the third verse of Psalm 101…
I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not fasten its grip on me.
Psalm 101:3
What causes us to fall away?
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes,… Genesis 3:6
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22-23
What do you choose to put before your eyes?
The word eyes here in Psalm 101:3 is more than just the two eyes in the front of your face.. this word includes your spiritual and mental faculties. What do you pump into your mind and your spirit? Have you really stopped and been honest with yourself and examined the connection with what you choose to watch and hear with your thoughts and actions?
Jesus came to open blind eyes so that we might see sin for what it is… and turn from it, not park our butts down in front of it and be entertained with it and say “well I know it is wrong and am aware of it and I won’t do that so it’s okay for me to be a sideline participant.”
Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. Luke 8:13
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons… 1 Timothy 4:1
I find it sad when we spend more time paying attention to deceitful spirits and the doctrines of demons than we do the Word of God and then we wonder why we can’t crucify our flesh and live holy lives pleasing to God… My friend what temptation are you struggling with today? What do you put before your eyes and what do you pour into your ears daily?
Do you even care that you sin?
The word fall in Psalm 101:3 means swerver, rebel, revolter, deeds that swerve…
When I was sixteen I had a few vehicle accidents… the majority of those wrecks came as I was rebelling against the posted law and then swerved… I knew the law… but ignored it… and I crashed. Our ignoring and rebelling against the Law of God and the Grace and Truth revealed to us in His Son will have the same results. Eventually our rebellion will become evident we will attempt to swerve to miss the consequences of it and we will crash and our lives will be wrecked.
How thankful I am for the jaws of life that are in the hands my Christ…
When I wholly surrendered to my Savior in December 2001 there were things I just could not physically stomach to pass through my eyes and ears… it physically made me sick and ripped at my heart and grieved my spirit. Those same things still do today… my heart has grown more tender as I walk closer to my Christ and go deeper in His Word.
Sin separates me from Him… and I like being as close to Him as I possibly can.
Psalm 101:3 goes on to say “I hate the work of those who fall away…”. Notice he says I hate the work… he does not say he hates the those.
My husband laughs at me because he has caught my “head shake“. Apparently every time I see the work of those who fall away, or see the deceitful spirits and the doctrines of demons and the things that this world just throws before our eyes and shoves in our ears before we even have an opportunity to run away I frustratedly shake my head. I have to close my lips tight and breathe deep because the holy rage is building up within me and I want to erupt at what I see and hear… but I shake my head and breath.
Here is what my head shake says… “It shall not fasten its grip on me“
I am shaking it off like the dust from my feet…
I will take no part in it…
I will not knowingly support it or encourage it. I will not eat at Hardees because of their ads. I will not go to certain movies or listen to certain groups because of their content. I will not shop at certain stores because of the trash they want my children to wear. I will not get sucked into certain books because of the files they will take up in my mind that belong to the Spirit for the storage of God’s Word.
There is much in this world that I can not control… but what I can I will… for the glory of my God and for the love of my Jesus.
My Jesus said I was worth His death… so my Jesus is worth my life.