Morning Meditation for Tuesday: No Room for Evil
September 8, 2020
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up,
left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (NIV 1984).
It all started when Gavin was old enough to go to the store with us. Janet had a procedure she would use when taking one or more grandchildren with her to a store. She always set an amount of money each one could spend. Now usually a grandchild would grab the first shiny thing and, being tempted and excited, and throw the trinket into the basket. A few others were quickly added to the collection of junk, rapidly growing as they made their way down a few aisles. But then, the child would spot something really worth having and want to also add it to their collection. The doll or car was something they could have hours of play with.
The pile of small trinkets usually added up to the set amount they could spend. So, they had to choose between a really good toy and a bunch of cheap junk. Janet never gave in and let them have it all. And usually the grandchild would make the right choice and put back all the trinkets to buy something worthwhile. Each grandchild was only given 5 dollars, and each one could spend it however they wanted; either on junk or on something worthwhile.
There is a lot of junk in the world tempting us. It is as alluring as a shiny bright piece of junk placed in the aisle of a store to tempt children. We can fill up on such worthless stuff, things with little or no value. Or, we can fill up on things worth more than an entire shopping mall full of junk. If I am filled each day with God’s grace, then it is far easier to turn down the junk. If I let the Lord fill me with goodness, then there is no room for evil.
Every once in a while a grandchild would pick something good right off the bat. Then, when seeing something else that was a piece of junk, the grandchild would hold on to the good toy. There was no room for anything else in their set budget. As an adult, it is so much easier to turn away from sin when filled up with the Lord’s goodness. Perhaps that is why it is so important to start each day with prayer and time with God.
Pastor Jim Jackson