Worthless Things

Turn my eyes from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. — Psalm 119:37

This is an interesting verse that I haven’t been able to take off of my mind. The first thing I notice is that it doesn’t say “evil” things. Why doesn’t it say “turn my eyes from satanic stuff,” or “turn my eyes away from pornographic material,” or something like that? It simply says “worthless things.”

Now, I haven’t reminded you of this in a while, so here it is again. When I write a WMD, it is usually because God has given me a word for ME…not you. I just turn around and write it for you as a result of His working in me. In no way do I ever want you to believe that I have it all together and I am the prime example of a Christian. Jesus Christ is the only example we need. I am simply a dude that tries to give Him everything I’ve got every single day, and it took a lot of years for me to get to that point. Some days I feel like I really honor the Lord…some days I’m doing a lot of repenting. Even though I am flawed and imperfect, I want my devotion to the Lord to be rock solid. The more I honor Him, the more honor I seem to receive from Him even though I don’t deserve it…and that’s just fine with me!

Anyway, I started thinking about the “worthless things” I’ve done over my life. Here is my list…in no way am I saying NEVER do these things, I still do some of them. However, I am saying, I want to pray Psalm 119:37 and ask God to turn my eyes away from these types of things, because obviously, it can only be done with His help. Like the verse says…I want my life preserved according to the Word of God. So…the list:

Nintendo: Back in the day, Nintendo was the thing. Contra, Double Dribble, and Super Spike V-Ball were my favorites. Then, I upgraded to a Sega Genesis…then it was Mortal Kombat for hours on end. Even though I loved those games, I think now of those countless hours of wasted time on such a worthless thing! I had a kid tell me “if you would just play Call of Duty (something) Ops, I promise you’d love it and you’d be hooked!” The problem is…he’s right! I pray that God will turn my eyes from such worthless things! I pray that He will turn my kids’ eyes from them, and they will want the things God has to offer more than the games that Microsoft and Sony have to offer.

Secular Music: Once again, I’m not saying I never listen to the stuff…I am saying I used to listen to it ALL the time. I wasted so much money on buying cassette tapes of my favorite bands: Metallica, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Poison (you gotta love that one…actually buying “Poison” to fill my mind with), and I could go on and on and on. Anyway, all I’m saying is that the stuff is a waste of time. Everything those bands produce is worthless…in no way, shape or form has their music preserved my life according to the Word of God. I remember a band called Warrant. Their lead singer died this past week. His name was Jani Lane. He loved music and it served him well. He was a rock star. I am in no way judging the guy, but there is no indication that he accepted Jesus Christ into his heart and life, I honestly hope he did. Nevertheless, He died at 47 years old. He spent his entire life giving us music that was certainly entertaining…but worthless.

TV: This one I’m still working on. I watch “How I met your Mother,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “The Big Bang Theory.” As I type this, it is kind of embarrassing…I mean, I actually watch a television show with a title that has been used to directly contradict the first verse in the Bible? Don’t get me wrong, the shows are as entertaining as they can be…but they are worthless.

Books: Now, before any of you get mad at me…I read and was completely entertained by all the Harry Potter books and all the Twilight books (though I didn‘t read the last one)…but those books are worthless. None of them have helped me in any way to preserve my life according to God’s Word. In 200 years, how will those books have helped anybody? Do you think J.K and Stephanie will be proud of their accomplishments?

Phones: Perhaps there is nothing robbing teenagers more than cell phones. Texting is destroying their spiritual walks with the Lord as well as their financial future by making them care nothing about their education. When I take one from a student using it in class, the looks are of pure hatred. You would think I just cut their heart out. Some of the students borrow another phone and get mama or daddy to come get their phone immediately…and some of them actually DO! These things are totally and completely robbing our students of an education and a real deal authentic relationship with the Lord. I asked one girl last year to fast her phone for 21 days and really focus on the Lord…she simply said “there is no way that I can do that.”

If you just take television alone, the average American spends 28 hours per week in front of the tube. There are only 168 hours in a week. This means almost 17% of the average American’s week is spent watching something worthless. If you are not a Christian…watch all the Television you want. But, there is no way that the true power of God could possibly be on a person that spends that much time watching TV. When you combine all of these things I talked about, they simply keep us from reaching our full potential in God. When is the last time a person came to you for spiritual guidance and advice? When is the last time you felt the full on Presence of God? If you can’t remember, evaluate your time and decide if you spend the majority of your time doing worthless things. NOT necessarily evil things…but things that are worthless. Then, make some adjustments. I’m not saying never watch TV, but instead of 28 hours, watch 21 hours and read your Bible and pray for an hour a day. All of these things I mentioned will be proof on judgment day that we DID have time!

Satan, if he had a preference, would probably rather have you and I choose evil things. But a wonderful second place, to him, is to get your mind OFF of God by getting you to devote the majority of your time to things that are worthless. He does not care what you worship, as long as it isn’t the one who created you. His goal is for you to NEVER give 100% of your life to the Lord Jesus Christ!

How is he doing?

Later

Adam