Watch What You Watch
Today’s scripture selection: Psalms 99-101
Key verses: Psalm 101:2b-3
“I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing.”
Have you ever thought about all the visual stimuli to which you are exposed every single day? How about that to which you expose yourself?
All the
- Ads
- Television
- Movies
- Computer Games
- News Spots
- Gossip Spots
- Fictional or Real Acts of Violence
- Images of Sexuality
- On and on and on
Not to mention the beautiful images too – the hopeful; inspiring; sacred things all around us – they are there too – just for the “looking.”
So, as the Psalmist suggests, it’s at least partially a matter of choice. While we certainly can’t control all of the things that catch our eye and our attention – we can control some can’t we? Perhaps even quite a bit.
What did it mean for the Psalmist that “no vile thing” would be set before the eye, that there would be no idol; or temptation; no evil there? You can speculate on that for yourself.
But I think the message is clear enough. Watch what you watch – that you can walk in your house with a blameless heart.
Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to what you would have me see – and help me to avoid that which I shouldn’t. AMEN.
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. “Elpis” is the Greek word for “expectant hope.” He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors, and a member of Spiritual Directors International. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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