Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 4; 1 Kings 5; 2 Chronicles 2; Psalm 101; 2 Thessalonians 3
Scripture: Psalm 101:2-4
2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
when will you come to me?
I will walk in my house
with blameless heart.
3 I will set before my eyes
no vile thing.
The deeds of faithless men I hate;
they will not cling to me.
4 Men of perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will have nothing to do with evil.
Observation: It is a high standard that David shares here in this Psalm. "I will be careful to lead a blameless life..." He gives some clues to how to accomplish this. A blameless heart is the starting place. What a person looks at or watches is another key. Not approving or partaking of evil or perverse behavior is also important.
Application: Today, most people seem to be quite indulgent -- even those who call themselves Christians. The idea of a blameless life is not something most people concern themselves with. Most seem to want to not be "too bad" or to avoid the "worst sins." But what David says here is quite convicting. We should set our sights higher: on the goal of walking with blameless hearts. But it is not easy -- especially in today's over-stimulated media environment. It requires purposefulness in purity. I must remove myself from impure images. If I take this phrase seriously: "I will set before my eyes no vile thing," it means that most of what is on TV is unacceptable. It requires significant discipline to limit my intake of garbage. ("Limit" is not the right word -- the word is "eliminate"). As Paul wrote: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. (Philippians 4:8). It requires a separation of myself from evil to walk the blameless life.
Prayer: Lord, we want to walk in purity -- the find the blameless life. Help us to have the discipline and courage to put aside the pollution of this world and embrace your perfection. May we be shining as bright lights no matter how dark the universe around us gets.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 comment:
A very relavent topic. Something I pray for every morning is to go out with a pure heart. Sometimes a very difficult thing, as you are correct it seems we as Christians, and society in general, have become overly complacent.
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