Does God care what you say, do, and think, every moment of every day? According to the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:17, I would say the answer is yes. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. According to Romans 12, Satan understands the importance of this expectation and diligently works to keep us from being successful. Romans 12:2, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The pattern of this world is the domain of Satan. Conforming to this pattern is submitting our will to him. Therefore, this is not simply about being a good boy. Nor is it a means of making God love us more or bless us more if we avoid these things. Instead, this command is about keeping us out of danger. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8. This imagery is terrifying to me. I still have visions of a TV show I watched when I was a young boy. (Yes, they did have TV back then!) It was an old Tarzan movie and at one point, a lion was chasing someone. The scene had the lion leaping toward the camera, which made it appear to be jumping out of the screen and right at me. I had nightmares and still remember them vividly. All this to say, Satan’s desire for us is total destruction with as much pain as possible. God’s solution is to avoid those traps Satan uses to defeat us.
This is the point where we talk about spending time in prayer and study of God’s Word. I am not minimizing these important actions. This is how we “renew our minds” as Paul commands in Romans 12:2. However, there are additional steps we can take. To stay healthy physically, we not only strive to eat healthy foods, but we must also avoid putting unhealthy stuff in. This is also true of our spiritual health. We must be aware of people and places that may be sources of these unhealthy temptations and choose to avoid them.
King David knew this all too well. By choosing to stay home when his army was fighting in Ammon, Satan was able to get him to fall into adultery. By trying to win the favor of other nations, David compromised his commitment to the one true God and got nothing but trouble. Therefore, he knows what he is talking about when he gives us this warning in Psalm 101, I will sing of your love and justice; to you, Lord, I will sing praise. 2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. 3 I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it. 4 The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil. 5 Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate. 6 My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me. 7 No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. 8 Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.
If I could summarize what I see to be David’s warning, it would be this, “The best way to avoid destructive influences in my life is to choose to avoid them.” The closer I walk to the edge of trouble, the more risk I will fall in. However, the closer I walk to the cross, the safer I will be.