Living Sacrifice

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

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“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify” (1st Corinthians 10:23)

Have you ever heard this song? “Oh be care little eyes what you see, oh be careful little eyes what you see, for your Father up above is watching down with love, oh be careful little eyes what you see”.

We warn children about what they watch and what they do. We are very careful not to let them watch scary movies or movies with “dirty” words, and we avoid discussing or watching certain things when “little ears” are around. We are concerned that no “junk” or “harmful” matter would enter their eyes or ears.

Why do we warn children, but when we are “all grown up”, it is suddenly okay to watch horror movies or play games that have murder with blood and body parts splatting all over the screen? Are we now less affected because we are “all grown up”?

What we see and hear enters our minds and gets mulled over in our thoughts. Same thing with what we read. I remember reading books that would suck me into the story in such a way that I would try to analyse every thing that happened and I would think about it for days afterwards. Regarding movies. I would think about them and play the scenes through my mind over and over again. If I watched a scary movie, or one that had a lot of violence, I would have a difficult time sleeping. That is why I am very careful now about what I watch.

“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (Job 31:1). This verse can apply to both men and women. It is not just about staying away from pornography, but can also mean to be careful about what we watch. It is difficult today to find a movie that does not have profanity, negative connotations about Bible and spiritual matters, violence and sexual content, none of which are honouring to God. We probably would not gaze at a half naked man or woman on the street, but if they are undressed on the screen, somehow it becomes “socially acceptable”. Why? We wouldn’t allow vulgar and coarse language in our home, but when it appears on the t.v., we willingly invite it into our living room. Somehow this, too, becomes an “acceptable norm”. I recall one occasion when my brother and I took our youngest brother and some of his friends to the cinema to watch a “kid’s” movie. I felt uncomfortable almost from the beginning when the actors were mocking God. Within minutes, we decided to leave and to take our youngest brother out with us. We explained to our brother and to his friends why we were leaving, particularly that by remaining and exposing ourselves to the garbage on the screen, we would not be honouring God. We gave his friends the option to stay or leave. They paid for their own tickets and were old enough to decide for themselves. In less than five minutes, they all followed us out. We knew we did the right thing and regretted going to the movie in the first place. Our youngest brother learned from that experience and did the same on his own initiative when he went to a different movie with someone else.

Making “a covenant with our eyes” also has to do with not only how we look at other people, but how we look to other people. Men have a tendency to look where they shouldn’t, while women have a tendency to dress to be seen. Both of these can also apply to the opposite sex. Are we looking lustfully at our brothers or sisters in Christ or are we causing them to look lustfully at us? Each of us is responsible for how we dress, but we all have a responsibility for keeping our eyes pure. We can inadvertently cause our brother to stumble by how we dress. We should try to make sure that our eyes don’t wander off to places they shouldn’t be going.

If we acknowledge that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and we dedicate our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy to God, we need to remember that our eyes are part of the package. I’ve heard some argue, “There is nothing else to watch, because all the movies are like that!”. I believe there are some clean movies that are fun and good. But, if we can’t find any, then maybe we should look for something else to do with our time that will be more honouring to the Lord. Job made a covenant with his eyes! How amazing is that? Are we ready to do the same?

May God help us keep our eyes, our thoughts and our hearts pure, so that our speech and behaviour will follow accordingly.

© Hannah Kramer

What’s in a word?

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“Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving”. (Ephesians 5:4)

I love to laugh and hear good jokes, as well as tell them (although they may not always be as funny as I intend them to be). Most people like to laugh, right? But…is there a line when it comes to what we should or should not say? When does a joke become “out of place” and when is it “foolish talk” or “coarse jesting”?

It’s amazing to me that my family and I have been learning relatively similar things throughout the week, each in a different way and through a different set of circumstances. My mom and I discussed Romans 12 this week as she was preparing a lesson for a women’s group. We discussed the first two verses mainly. I had already heard a number of messages about what it means to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice and to be transformed in our mind. But I never gave serious thought about the practical applications…until this week. So what does it mean “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1)?

It is clear we need to give God control of our bodies and many examples can be given for what we should not do, such as: we should not do drugs or get drunk or have relations out of marriage. Inasmuch as these are true, there is so much more to these verses. I have been thinking about the application of this verse to a part of our bodies that we use a lot, sometimes more than we should…our mouths.

There are quite a few verses that talk about the tongue (for example James 1:26, 3:5) and the words we say (Mattew 12:36). The verse at the opening of this post talks about what we should and should not say. Some may interpret this to mean that no jokes or even laughter are allowed. Yet, from what I understand, that is not the case. God created laughter and humor and, therefore, there is nothing wrong with them, by themselves. On the contrary, God wants us to laugh and sing and take pleasure in many things. So then, what is this verse telling us?

I looked up the Greek word for obscenity. It means filthiness, things which are shameful or deformed. The word for foolish talking means that which is senseless, foolish, which is not suited to edify or profit. Coarse joking (or coarse jesting) means using words that can easily be turned to other meanings,double meaning, words that can convey an obscene or offensive meaning, depending upon the context in which they are used. All three of these words in Greek appear only here in the New Testament. In short, we are instructed not to speak words which “are out of place” and, therefore, improper and inappropriate for us as believers.

This verse should be understood not only in the context of all of chapter 5, but the whole book of Ephesians. The first three chapters talk about what The Messiah Yeshua has done for us and our position in Him, being being seated together with The Lord in the heavenly places. Chapter 4 starts the practical part of the epistle: how we should live, walking in unity and walking in purity. The begininig in chapter 5 encourages us to be “followers of God, as dear children”, in that we should continually be imitators of God. We are told to “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling smell” (verse 2). Christ gave Himself in our place and took the punishment we deserved. This is the kind of love we should be showing, a sacrificial type of love, as The Lord Yeshua did for us. Verse 3 starts the contrast of what we should not do. It talks about things that should not be mentioned among those who are saints – all who have been born again and profess their faith in The Lord Yeshua. Things such as fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness are viewed by the world as acceptable, even appropriate, in certain political, social or business settings. Yet, the exhortation here is that things such as these should not exist among us!

The opening verse to this post appears is in the context of things that are unbecoming to believers. Foul words or joking in a manner which can offend or have a double meaning, is dishonoring to God. It is not only improper for us to do, but we should also encourage one another not to be involved with such speech. There is nothing wrong with asking others not to joke improperly in our presence. At first, they may think us strange, but with time, others may come to honor our request.

Am I exaggerating? I don’t think so. It all goes back to the opening verse, being imitators of God. How then should we be speaking? We should be expressly thanks. The idea is to get together for praising God, giving Him thanks for all that He is and all that He has done, is doing and still will do. We should be using our words to edify and build up, rather than for coarse joking, which more often than not results in putting someone else down, rather than building up.

As I thought of the passage in Romans 12:1-2, I realized how often we compromise by what we say. May The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, help us to truly be imitators of God and be a sweet smelling savor to Him, not only by what we do, but also in our speech. “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in season” (Proverbs 25:11).
© Hannah Kramer