"You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity" (Ezra 9:11).
The Old Testament people of God were given new life in a new land. It is the same for New Testament believers in Christ, except our new land is not a physical place but a spiritual kingdom. However, the physical world I live in is just as unclean as ancient Canaan was, and the people who live in this world without God are as unclean in His sight as those pagans were. Apart from the grace of God, our land is filled with impure, unclean abominations.
James 1:27 says we are to keep ourselves “unspotted from this world.” How does a believer stay pure in an unclean environment? Without retreating into a rabbit hole and thinking I am “27 miles from the nearest sin” (a claim made by a Christian school in southern California), what practical way can I keep myself clean from all the stuff that goes on around me?
My first thought is keeping better tabs on how much television I watch. It does not take a genius to recognize that most television shows are not produced by godly people who want me to think about the Lord.
Yet I like Law and Order, CSI and other programs where bad guys are chased down and brought to justice. I even justify watching these shows because “I want justice” and isn’t that like God? Yet am I praising God during the process? Learning how to be more like Jesus Christ? Thinking pure thoughts? Even prompted to go out and fight evil?
This verse and the Holy Spirit speak sharply to me about my television habits. I’ve become lax about what I put into my mind. God tells me to not think like the world thinks but renew my mind. The tube will never do that for me — only the Word of God can give me a pure heart and transform the way I think.
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