What Are You Looking At?

“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.” Psalm 101:3-4

My eight-year-old granddaughter came to me and announced, “I just read 17 books in my room.” The books must not have had very many pages, but 17 books is still a lot of reading, and we wondered if she had actually read them, or just turned the pages and looked at the pictures. We asked her to tell us about what she had read.

“Oh, I don’t really remember anything about them.” This did not surprise me, but we pressed her to try to remember.

“How about just one thing you remember?”

“Well, I only remember the creepy stuff.” This raised alarms, because she has not been reared in a home with Christian influence.

“What kind of creepy stuff?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what my precious granddaughter was filling her mind with.

“Well, vampires and ghosts and graves and death. Stuff like that.” Her words were calm and easy, not scared. What bothered me is that it didn’t bother her. It was obviously accepted within her age group, and allowed by her teacher at school as well. Out of 17 books she had just read, only one aspect stuck with her.

What our eyes see influences us so easily. It gets into our mind, confirming or denying truth. This is a simple concept, but I’ve heard many argue that it’s not all that important because we are adults now and we know the difference between truth and fantasy. I would argue from experience that the more we see or hear something, the more we make adjustments until it becomes real or acceptable.

Scriptural examples of what we allow in our thoughts abound. Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8). God Himself told His people in Leviticus 11:47 that He expected His people to be able to distinguish between the clean and unclean. In Hebrews 5:14, we are told to exercise our senses by using them to discern both good and evil. We are to “touch no unclean thing” in Isaiah 52:11.

There is a principle in the Bible that we are to “keep ourself” from evil so that the wicked one does not touch us (1 John 5:18). What does this look like for us today? I suggest that we take a hard look at what we allow our eyes to see, and particularly what we allow our eyes to linger on if we are merely passing by.

Counter the evil our eyes see by sticking close to God’s Word. “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Father, give us discernment about the things that would defile us. Help us to honestly look at our habits. Help us to choose what pleases You. Thank You, Lord.