It is rare
for me to enjoy an item of food with great pleasure. While we were on our mini-vacation, I was
introduced to a tasty fry pie at the farm we toured. It had a pie like crust shaped like a half
moon, with a gentle glaze on the outside and the best cherry filling I ever had
outside my home- it was the perfect taste.
We wandered over to the barn for our tour there and the filling was
oozing over our fingers as we bit in.
Yummmm! (My only regret is not
buying more. :D )
By the time
we reached the barn, hubby was done his pie and was following the guide. I was only half done but figured they
wouldn’t care if I ate it inside. Two
feet inside the door I came to a dead stop.
The delicious flavour of the pie as I chewed contrasted with the sharply
unpleasant smell of horse droppings.
Yuck! I quickly backed out of the
barn to keep from retching and to finish my pie where I could truly appreciate
it.
The stench of
the dung almost ruined my delicious treat.
It reminded me in the Bible of how the people weren’t to touch certain
things at certain times or they would become unclean (ex. dead bodies- Nm. 19:13).
Just like the stench almost attached itself
to the fry pie, so touching something unclean would defile a
person. While I wouldn’t stop myself
from sitting on the chair of a menstruating woman, picking up bacon and eating
it, or touching a dead loved ones hand, my thoughts went more in the direction
of how often we let others around us defile the way we think, speak and act.
Many people
working in a factory begin swearing more because they hear it all the
time. Hang around with people telling inappropriate
jokes, and pretty soon we’ll laugh at them.
Start watching sexually explicit tv shows with the unsaved and soon we’ll
watch increased perversity. It’s like
the ways of the world are constantly trying to stick to us.
Do not be deceived; evil companionships corrupt good
habits. 1Cr. 15:33
He who walks with the wise shall be wise, but a
companion with fools shall be destroyed.
Pr. 13:20 (wicked- Pr. 4:14,15; angry- Pr. 22:24,25)
So we need to
be careful to not allow the ungodly ways of the world to stick to us. There is nothing wrong with saying ‘no’, walking
away from people telling inappropriate jokes or telling them to stop, discontinue
watching the sexually explicit tv shows, etc.
And when the stench of ungodliness attempts to attach, we need to back
out of the barn and seek a better place to stand. That better place to stand is on God’s Word.
So that, my beloved brothers, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is
not without fruit in the Lord. (1Cr. 15:58)
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around
your waist… Ep. 16:13
stand fast and hold the teachings which you have been
taught, whether by word or by our letter. 2Th. 2:15
Watch! Stand fast in the faith! Be men! Be strong!
1Cr. 16:13
In fact, I have to ask myself…
if we are spending more time with the unsaved in
their pursuits, even partaking in them, but less time in fellowship with other
believers (Hb. 10:25; Ac. 2:44-47), then we should consider where our hearts
truly lie.