Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Joshua 24:23
"Then put away the foreign gods that are among you and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel."
(Joshua 24)This is near the end of the book of Joshua, where Joshua urges the Israelites to once again commit themselves to the LORD. God had just delivered them and shown His worth all throughout the book, and Israel acknowledges that and pledges their commitment and obedience to Him. After Joshua doubting their commitment and them reassuring him he urges them to set themselves up for success.
21And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD." 22Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." 23He said, "Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel."
As a part of obedience to God the Israelites were to remove the other Gods. In addition as part of the covenant commands from God, they are to put His name on everything (Deut. 6:4-9). There were even certain dress standards used for the same purpose (Deut. 22:12; Num 15:38-39)[I'm thinkin' WWJD bracelets :) ]. That purpose is to call us to and remind us of obedience.
Whether or not we are aware of it, what we see and are around every day effects what we do and think. Our surroundings promote and encourage what they are most closely associated with. Psychology calls this "triggers". If we are used to coming home and watching TV then when we walk in and see the television, there are psychological reactions that make us want to sit down and watch. Or another one is when you lie down on your bed to read, you quickly find yourself setting down the book for a nap. These are a couple examples of triggers and reactions.
In the Israelites case this is the purpose they are told to remove these gods, idols and trinkets included. It is not something that they were to let themselves get distracted with. How many times do we find ourselves sit down to a task and find ourselves distracted by something because we see it lying around and we think "I'll just be a minute" and end up neglecting our original task all together? If Facebook isn't your homepage, you won't go there half as much. If the ice cream is in the basement freezer, you may save yourself a couple of pounds. If we keep the Bible and journal on the nightstand or table it won't be so often neglected. What are you getting distracted by and how can you make it less distracting?
Believe it or not, God is in the know of how our minds work and were created. These commands were to help us serve Him. What if we set up our dorm/house/living room sothat when we walk in the first thing we see is a bookshelf instead of a TV? What if the TV is out of the way and hard to get to it? Look around and consider changes or additions that you should make to enable you to better live for Christ. This could mean changing a background or homepage, putting the TV in a back room or put some sticky notes with Scripture on them. I think it's an easy thing to overlook, but the environment we put ourselves in can either be an asset or a hindrance. Aim to keep triggers to bad habits, sin and distractions out of sight and out of mind.
3/29/11
For the King,
~Andrew Voigt
joshuaspromise.blogspot.com
