"Seeing And Hearing"

"(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)" 2 Peter 2:8

"In seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul." It is so important that you watch what you watch and be careful of what you listen to. You can't just listen to anything and it not effect you. You can't spend your time watching anything you want and it not effect you. There are two avenues through which knowledge and influence enter our lives-- through seeing and hearing.

The Psalmist said that he would "set no wicked thing before his eyes". Why? Because what you watch does effect you. It leaves a picture on your mind. It is a seed that produces an "imagination". You can't watch porn (for example) and it not begin to effect your behavior. It will develop into a lustful, immoral and perverted attitude in your life. King David learned the hard way what happens if you don't guard your eyes from looking at the wrong thing. He watched as Bathsheba bathed and it led to lust, adultery and murder.

The Bible says that "faith comes through hearing". Faith comes through hearing, and so does fear, cursing, rebellion and every other evil attitude. Riots, strikes, uproars are started because a group of people "listened" to what someone else was saying. People aren't automatically born speaking profanity- they learn it by hearing it. This is why we, when talking about little children, always say that you have to be careful about what you say around them because they will repeat it. This is also why parents spend a lot to time "spelling" words around little children. When the devil came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, he used the tactics of hearing and seeing-- "he said" and "he showed". He tried to get Jesus to act upon what he was saying to Him.

If you sit in front of the television, listen to radio, watch videos and listen to CDs it will effect you. It will get into your mind and heart. Therefore, you have to guard your eyes and your ears and be careful about what you are watching and listening to. If you think that you don't have to be "selective" in the things you watch and listen to because you are "beyond" that- it won't effect you in the wrong way- you are fooling yourself. If you think it doesn't, if you think you can watch and listen to whatever you want, then step back and take a look at yourself and listen to yourself talk. I think you will find that it has more of an influence on you than you realize. What you "fill" yourself with is what comes out.

We guard our hearing and seeing through the Word of God. Let it instruct you as to what you should listen to and what you should watch. Had King David followed it at that moment, he never would have fallen prey to lust. Had Eve listened to the "Word" of God instead of the words of the serpent, and had Adam listened to His Word instead of that of his wife, we would all still be living in the garden without sin.

Have a great day. What you watch and listen to does effect you- either in a good way or a bad way.

For further reading:
Psalm 101:3
Romans 10:17
2 Samuel 11:2
Matthew 4:3,6,8,9

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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