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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for March 31, 2010
“I Make a Covenant with My Eyes to Look at No Vile Thing”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
There is a denomination that preaches against television.
You shouldn’t even have a TV in your house.
Why not?
Because there are so many blatant displays of ungodliness on television.
So I was talking to a preacher about this and I asked him, “So what about the internet? What does your denomination say about that?”
“Well that kind of snuck up on us.”
I guess what happened is that so many members and probably even churches were using the internet that when it finally became apparent that the internet was potentially exponentially more vile than television, it was too late.
Well what is the point? Is it that you shouldn’t have a television or an internet connection?
That’s not a bad idea, but that’s only a means to an end. So what is the end?
The end is that we do not view the displays of ungodliness.
In Psalm 101:3 David wrote, “I will set before my eyes no vile thing.”
Why not? Because it has a polluting effect.
Eve was told not to eat from a certain tree, but she found herself looking at it. She found it “pleasant to the eyes,” and the next thing you know, she took a bite.
If you don’t look, you are less likely to bite.
In driver’s ed we were told to be careful what we looked at, because wherever we looked, that’s where we were likely to go. For example, while you are looking at that billboard you are prone to turn your steering wheel toward it.
It’s human nature. We tend to steer toward what we look at.
So instead of looking at vile things, David said in verse six, “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land…”
If you keep your eyes on the faithful, you are likely to become more faithful yourself.
Psalm 119:37 recommends that we turn our eyes away from worthless things.
Jesus went so far as to say, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.”
I don’t think his point was to blind us, because a blind man can sin as fast as anyone. Instead of gouging our eyes, we need to gouge things from our field of vision, things that are vile or unwholesome, things that pollute us and veer us from godliness.
I love what it says in Job 31:1, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.”
Now focus on that first part, “I made a covenant with my eyes…”
Combine that with Psalm 101 and you get something like, “I made a covenant with my eyes to look at no vile thing.”
I can make that even shorter. Just look away.
We all know you don’t need a TV or an internet connection to see vile things. You don’t have to go looking for them, they will come looking for you, it seems, so what can you do?
Just look away.
This is one of the easiest sins to indulge in without getting caught. What you look at is mostly just between you and God.
And here is the way many people live. They just try not to get caught. “I don’t mind looking at something bad,” they say, “I just don’t want to get caught doing it.”
Well back to Psalm 101. Verse two says, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life.”
Some people say, “I will be careful not to get caught,” but what we should say is, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life.”
Verse two goes on to say, “I will walk in my house with a blameless heart.”
There are two powerful things here. One is “in my house.” That is an easy place to sin, “in your house.” And second is an even easier place to sin, in your heart.
If you can have a blameless heart even in the confines of your own house, you have really accomplished something!
So make that covenant today. And don’t do it so you won’t get caught. Do it so you can have a blameless heart.
Do it out in public, and do it in your own house.
It’s a great combination of Psalm 101 and Job 31, and here it is.
I make a covenant with my eyes to look at no vile thing
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-
1 comment:
Thanks
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