Isaiah 33:15-16
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
It is often hard to resist temptation and do what is right. If we passively accept whatever occurs before us, we will most likely end up embracing the sin. In contrast, to be righteous we must proactively avoid sin. Verse 15 suggests we proactively keep our hands from holding "a bribe", and goes on to suggest stopping our ears from hearing "of bloodshed", and shutting our eyes from "looking on evil". This last idea is especially important for those of us who struggle with lust. What do we do when we see something sexual on TV or in movies or just with how people are dressed on the street? To resist the temptation and walk in righteousness, we need to shut our eyes, or "bounce away" and look at something else. The point is to take action to avoid looking at things that will cause us to sin. Recovery takes work, and part of the work is making choices to avoid sin.
Lord, help me to choose not to look upon evil.
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
It is often hard to resist temptation and do what is right. If we passively accept whatever occurs before us, we will most likely end up embracing the sin. In contrast, to be righteous we must proactively avoid sin. Verse 15 suggests we proactively keep our hands from holding "a bribe", and goes on to suggest stopping our ears from hearing "of bloodshed", and shutting our eyes from "looking on evil". This last idea is especially important for those of us who struggle with lust. What do we do when we see something sexual on TV or in movies or just with how people are dressed on the street? To resist the temptation and walk in righteousness, we need to shut our eyes, or "bounce away" and look at something else. The point is to take action to avoid looking at things that will cause us to sin. Recovery takes work, and part of the work is making choices to avoid sin.
Lord, help me to choose not to look upon evil.