DCLM Daily Manna 11 July 2023 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Guard Your Eyes
TOPIC: Guard Your Eyes (DCLM Daily Manna 11 July 2023)
KEY VERSE: “And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof” (2 Kings 16:10).
TEXT: 2 Kings 16:10-18 (KJV)
10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.
18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.
MESSAGE:
King David sought God’s help as he looked for a check on his tongue. He prayed in Psalm 141:3: “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips”. What King Ahaz of Judah needed hundreds of years after David was a different type of request. He ought to have pleaded with the Lord to “set a watch” over his eyes. Unbridled eyes led him irretrievably into going against God concerning idolatry.
When Ahaz went to the ungodly king of Assyria, he “saw an altar” there, which he sent to the priest in Jerusalem to duplicate. Returning home, his eyes again lured him into straying from the ways of the Lord. The Bible says, “And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon”. The replicated altar the king saw drove him to idol worship.
Achan also fixed his eyes on the accursed thing that brought him and Israel sorrow. He could not keep his gaze from the “goodly Babylonish garment”, which he saw, coveted and took. A similar experience was the lot of King David when he did not look away from a Bathsheba stripped of her clothing.
The Lord gives us useful parts of the body to put to honourable use. As saints, we must subject these members to levels of caution and spotlessness. We must not permit our eyes direct gaze to images or personalities that defile the soul or cause enticement into breaking the laws of God. Like Job, we must make “a covenant with [our] eyes” so that our words and the meditation of our hearts will be acceptable to God and bring glory to His name. Our eyes must not be a tool for corruption and defilement.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Self-discipline and self-restraint will prevent corruption and defilement.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2 Kings 22-23
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
