Deuteronomy 12 -- A Diet Of The Mind

God had told Moses to instruct the people about how He was to be worshipped – what they were and were not supposed to do, “reviewing the past and helping the new generation appreciate all that God had done for them … Moses was helping his people develop hearts of love for the Lord, because if they loved him, they would obey Him,” my commentary said.

Primarily, they had to remove and destroy the idolatrous worship symbols of the inhabitants they would drive out of the land.  “Whenever we disobey the Lord and cherish that which He wants us to destroy, we provide Satan with a foothold in our lives … God rejected the Canaanite religions and wanted all evidence of their pagan practices removed from the land.  The land belonged to the Lord, and He had every right to purge it,” my commentary said.

In my life, I have the same instructions from God – to remove and destroy that which He wants destroyed.  If I jealously hold on to anything not of Him, for myself, I’m providing Satan with a foothold in my own life!

A big threat to our lives is contamination caused by human curiosity.  “There are some areas of human knowledge that are dangerous to investigate, for God wants His people to be ‘wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil.’  We don’t have to experience sin to learn how deadly it is,” my commentary added.

Satan uses our natural human curiosity to tempt us into areas God would not have us go.  I have to place boundaries on my own thoughts – “a diet of the mind” – to keep me from treading on dangerous ground that can draw me away from God.

Father, one thing I really need from You is alarms going off in my head and my heart anything I am mentally entering territory that tempts me to sin.  Let Your Holy Spirit speak loudly when I find myself going there, and if I’m tempted to ignore the warnings, shake me up!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford