On this radical journey the Holy Spirit will be at work in our lives. One of the areas of discomfort will be in the area of the eyes and what we see. This is a huge area for us as we are an extremely visual society. We are bombarded daily with images, some good and some bad. This is where the Holy Spirit helps us. In many cases there is nothing we can do about some of the bad images, we just have to turn away and not focus on it. An example of this would be objects like advertising in the form of a billboard (more so in the States) or a magazine at the grocery checkout. You simply have to look away if it is inappropriate. Some of what we have to turn away from could be lust or just simply our materialistic wants and desires. Job said Job 31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a woman.” We could add to that and say not to lust after material things. One of abilities the Holy Spirit gives us is discernment. 1 Kings 3:9 “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” The one area I want to focus on today is TV and the Internet. This is where we have total control, because we have the remote in our hand. It is so easy to convince ourselves that what we are watching is not harming us, but the truth of the matter is it can be detrimental to our spiritual health. The Holy Spirit can help us here. We should get the same feeling you get when you watch a movie with your parents and feel uncomfortable in certain spots. You know what I mean, unless your parents have no filters. The reality is if we feel that way with our parents, we probably should not be watching it. We have to be careful, as the rating system does not always exclude visuals that we should not be watching. We need to know how to distinguish on our own. You may say (hopefully) I don’t watch R-rated movies but you still can watch inappropriate shows that are not R-rated. It is very easy to justify what we watch and say it is not real or it’s just a show. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the comforter. The Holy Spirit is also the uncomforter. We have to learn to listen and make wise choices. Holy living is about what goes into our heads. If you are filling your minds with demonic, sexual, materialistic, murder, adultery and the list goes on you cannot expect to be holy. Another big one is reality shows as many of these are not healthy. The appetite for sport is another area we need discernment in. One of the duties of the priest was to distinguish between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean, and then to show others. We are a priesthood of believers so this applies to all Christians. Leviticus 10:9-11 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, 10 so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses.” Ezekiel 44:23 “They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.”
As we go along on this radical journey, listen to the Holy Spirit. As you read, don’t just read, be active. One person said, “Let's read the Word of God not just for information, but rather transformation.” Hebrews 5:13-14 “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Evil is sneaky and conniving (wow, look up the synonyms for that word). We have a choice to listen when we get uncomfortable and turn the channel or turn the TV off or do not watch the show in the first place or live with the results. Zechariah 7:12 “They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.” Today ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and make you feel uncomfortable again. Ask for discernment in this area. Ask to know right and wrong and good from evil. Repent for poor decisions.
