Protection Racket
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply
Title: Protection Racket------------------------------ Date: 6/21/2003
Keywords:
"love" "protection" "truth"
Welcome
to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual
temptation.
Passage: Psalm 40:11*
"Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me."
Questions
1. What can love and truth do for us?
2. How can we apply those concepts to pornography?
Practical help
Hang with me on this one.
In one way, God resembles a mobster. Remember that organized criminals often offer merchants what they call "protection." If shopkeepers pay the heavies, the heavies promise protection from small-time thugs. From all accounts, this arrangement works well. Crime tends to stay low in mob-controlled neighborhoods.
God runs something of a protection racket for Christians. Though his doesn't cost any money, it can help us steer clear of pornography. The psalmist fingers two of God's heavies: Love and Truth. Consider these characters for a moment.
Love helps us from falling into depression after (another) porno attack. We're tempted to think that God abhors us when we fail. Love steps in and clears that up.
Truth takes a more preventative approach, reminding us that we're complete without the artificial lift provided by pornography. Our doubts on that score may tempt us to dabble in smut — until Truth sets us straight.
Follow the psalmist's lead, and call on these protectors today. "May your love and your truth always protect me."
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*Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973,
1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.