TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 29, 2016.
POLLUTION
To make foul or unclean; to make impure or morally unclean; to defile.
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and over-come, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. II Peter 2:20.
Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked. Proverbs 25:26.
You may wonder why we picked a word like pollution for our devotional of the day. To begin with we must all understand that much is being said today about pollution and for many it is a great concern. Water pollution, air pollution and even soil pollution are all threats to our physical health.
The Bible speaks of pollution referring to the pollution of our minds and bodies caused by what we dump into them. We must all feel that we are living in a polluted world both environmentally and spiritually but most people are more concerned about the environment than the spiritual pollution of their mind and moral values.
James (1:27) advises us to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. In today’s world that is not easy. The world we live in is full of infectious sin. Just like a toxic pollutant being put in a river, sin spreads. Christians are in a constant battle with the pollutions of evil influences in our world.
In the verse above from II Peter we read that even after someone has been freed from the sinfulness of the world by accepting Jesus as their Savior, they can become entangled again in sin and be overcome by sin’s polluting power. By returning again to a sinful life after we have known the truth is to reject the truth and Peter says we are worse off than before. It is one thing to know God’s plan of salvation and live by it and quite another to know it and then reject it.
The more we reject Jesus the deeper we sink in sin and the harder it is for us to turn away from sin. We become so hardened to sin that we no longer see it as sin.
Both Paul and James address another form of pollution, the evil that comes out of our mouth. James tells us that the tongue corrupts the whole person and Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:29 to let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Corrupt words are verbal pollution such as criticism, backbiting, gossip, bitterness, anger to name a few.
The apostle Paul called on believers, in Ephesians 4 to the kind of decisive action that would remove the things that pollute our life. We are to put off the old self and its conduct that grieves the Holy Spirit and put on the new self that builds up others and encourages them to come to the Lord. We can change by asking God’s help and growing in the knowledge of the Lord. Knowledge of God’s Word has the cleansing power to remove the pollutions of the world from our life. God’s Word helps us to see sin as sin.
Our memory verse for this week is found in Psalm 9:18.
For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
Help me to eliminate any corrupt words from my speech that would affect my testimony and my relationship to others. Help me guide my family to clean up any words of criticism, jealousy and gossip. Make our words and deeds be an example for Your glory in all that we do today.
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