SEPTEMBER 21, 2 Corinthians 6:17-18

A soldier in India was in a library and spotted a book high up on the shelf. He reached for it but a snake among the books fell out and bit him. Its bite was poisonous. The soldier killed it but his hand became swollen. He almost died from the bite.

You also read, don’t you? There is poison in some books which is different from the snake poison in the earlier story. When you read books that encourage evil or contain violence, you are allowing your mind and heart to be poisoned. These books harm your spiritual life. Such books make you think it is all right to live sinfully and do evil. Some television programs can do the same thing. Evil can be made to look fun. However, it is not fun when it separates you from God. We must avoid things that are not good for us.

The apostle Paul gave another reason to avoid such evil things. God is our Father and we are His children. God lives in us and we are the temple of the living God. So we cannot touch spiritually unclean things. So we must not spoil ourselves with anything bad we might read, listen to or watch.

Let’s sing this song:

O be careful little eyes what you see, (x2)

For our Father up above, Is looking down in love

So, be careful little eyes what you see.

O be careful little ears what you hear, (x2)

For our Father up above, Is looking down in love

So, be careful little ears what you hear.

Thought: What reason does the apostle Paul give for avoiding things that are spiritually unclean?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me avoid what is not good for me to read, watch and listen to. As I am your child, help me be willing to turn away from what is evil. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.