Psalm 119:37

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken me in thou way.

Proverbs 4:23

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Standing on the tee box on the 18th hole, we scope out a body of water on the left and nearly 30 acres of green grass to the right. All we can think about while taking our grip and stance is “whatever you do, don’t go left!” Despite the large safe area of landing to the right, we cannot get the hazard out of our minds. Life has these same dangers, but it also has these same safe areas of passage. Society, however, tells us we are mentally strong enough to take in sexual content or cursing without allowing it to negatively affect our lives. In the Bible, David was a favored man of God. However, idleness and the lust of his eyes allowed him to act upon his desires of Bathsheba after seeing her sunbathing one evening. His act of adultery then led David to cause the death of Bathsheba’s husband. When we guard both our eyes and our heart, we are able to ascertain and avoid the dangers of life. The elders of the church from yesteryear would advise the youth “trash in, trash out” meaning you cannot allow trash coming into your mind without it eventually coming out in times of anger or when we are most vulnerable. Through the years, we have accepted rubbing shoulders with the worldly lusts of the flesh. The language used on public television today is that we only heard on the premium channels just a few years ago. We are allowing our teenage children wear risqué attire and see us drink alcohol at the family dinner table. Even though we see the hazards of life, we still feel getting as close to it as possible without going in gives us the shortest route to the green. My prayer today is for God to give us knowledge and wisdom to discern the dangers of life and, in turn, the strength to turn away and not “go left!”