I find it a pleasure when I read God’s Word and see how I could take what occurred millennia ago and apply it to my life. One example of this came about as I read in Daniel 1 last night. Verse eight stood out to me: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

Daniel spoke about not defiling himself with the king’s meat, but as Christians, there might be ways we are defiling ourselves too. And when we are spiritually defiled, the scent is not pleasure. Jesus, the Son of the Almighty God above, said himself in Matthew 15 v 17-20:

¹⁷ Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

²⁰ These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Now this is in no way to say that we must not wash our hands before we eat; it simply means that it has nothing to do with our spirits being defiled. Now for the Christian, there are some things that we would partake in, but without speaking, you can hate someone; you may want that Marc Jacobs bag your colleague has, simply because you want to keep up with the style of other ladies in the office; without speaking, you can covet someone’s house or position; without going through with it, you can actually desire to be with someone else’s husband or wife or you might be married and fantasizing about the neighbour, a colleague, a deacon. Interestingly, Jesus said in Matthew 5 v. 28, “That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” This, itself, is proof that we become defiled from within our spirits.

Have you entertained gossip lately? Have you been judgmental – not knowing all the facts? Perhaps in your heart you know you are upset with someone and are finding ways to avoid the person as opposed to addressing the matter (I’ve been there, but had to repent to God and eventually say to the person how I felt). Maybe it’s those worldly movies you are watching, which are not spiritually enlightening.

These things and others shackle us spiritually. They tear at us and we become spiritually weak. This is just what the enemy wants.

I implore you not to eat the enemy’s dainties. Do not entertain him. Do not sit at his table. Like Daniel, we must purpose in our hearts to not defile ourselves. And we can only do that if we know what the Word says; we ought not simply be hearers of the Word, but doers.

How can you cleanse your ways from spiritual defilement? David says in Psalm 119 v 9: “…by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

Growing in Christ,

Hadassah