2022_09_19 Insight Post- Kim Feld

  -   September 19, 2022

This week’s reading- 2 Corinthians 7-8

Our God is so incredibly faithful. One of the prayers I believe He truly delights in answering is found in Psalm 139. David writes in Psalm 139:23-24:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

When we specifically ask Him to “search and point out,” we can count on Him doing just that through the promptings and conviction of His Holy Spirit. The end of 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7 reminded me of this. At the end of chapter 6, God says that because He wants to live with and in us, we need to separate ourselves from anything that keeps us from communing with him. Let’s take a look at 2 Corinthians 7:1 from The Message:

“With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.”

When I read this verse, I immediately felt a nudge to explore myself a little in light of what it said. Is there anything in my life that defiles or distracts me? The New Living Translation and New International Version use “body and spirit” instead of “within and without.” So, this idea of being defiled or distracted is very deep and wide, including things that impact us physically as well as spiritually.

I would love to say the answer to this introspection was a hearty, “Nope!” But sadly, I had a list.

One of the things that I know is true of myself but that I often fight against is how impacted I am by the things I see. Disturbing images from movies or shows leave an imprint on my mind that is extremely difficult to rid myself of. I know that I can also fall prey to the dark side of social media, allowing it to bring feelings of insecurity or envy. Also, as much as I love them, podcasts can also be problematic if they pit my tribe and me against others.

I encourage each of us to take this verse and allow the Holy Spirit to “search and point out.” Let’s ask ourselves this question: Is what I’m consuming or filling my time with drawing me closer to Jesus and His ways or not? Please make no mistake; you are I are being discipled daily by what we choose to consume. Are we becoming more like Jesus as a result?