Deuteronomy 23:14, NIV
For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
The Hebraic understanding of life tells us that everything we do is either directly or indirectly an act of worship. If we are doing those things that please God, then God rejoices to bless us with his presence. But if we are doing things that are shameful, then ultimately we are worshipping the god of this world and it is not surprising that God would turn his face away from us at that time.
When my children were young it was always necessary to keep a close eye on them when they were adventuring. For what was great fun for them could also take them into a place of danger. There were many occasions when a watchful parental eye led to a loving, but warning, call and on some occasions it was that watchful eye that prevented a potential disaster. What would have happened if the parental eye was turned away at a critical moment? The consequences could have been too awful to contemplate.
In this Scripture we read how God says He will turn away from anything indecent that is found in our “camp” – that could mean our home, our activities, our holidays or wherever we go. What a challenge this is to keep ourselves pure in heart motive and action. Jesus put it this way, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8). We generally interpret this verse as meaning that because our eyes are pure we will be able to look on God, who is holy. I am sure that is a correct interpretation, but could it also be that the impure in heart will not be able to see God, because He is not looking at them? And he is having to look away from them because of the impurity they are nurturing? You cannot look into the face of someone who is not looking at you!
If God’s eye is not upon us, we are in danger of losing the protection of our Heavenly Father. What an encouragement this must be to keep ourselves pure and not allow the lust of the eyes to lead us into dangerous temptations.
Prayer: Lord, I need your loving care and protection. I choose to not only walk in your ways but to seek after purity with all of my heart so that indecency will not cause you to turn your eye from me at any time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
