What Your Eyes See - A Devotion for My Children

My son (8 years old)

I have been looking for a devotional book to use each morning with my children, before they go off to school.  There are so many great books, but I was looking for something very specific to address some tough topics.  Since I can't seem to find what I am looking for, I decided to write my own.  I am sharing it with you, in case you wish to discuss this with your own children. 

 

What Your Eyes See
 

What are some bad things your eyes see?   What do we say if something pops up on TV or on a billboard that we don't think is appropriate for little eyes?   Usually we say, "Close your eyes," because someone is 'naaakid' (naked) or a boy and girl are kissing and they aren't married, right?  

 

 Does our curiosity sometimes make us keep looking?  Is curiosity a bad thing?  No, curiosity helps us learn.  Kids are naturally curious and that is how kids learn to do lots of things and how they learn about the world around them.  Curiosity about the wrong things is what we want you to avoid.  What does the Bible tell us to do?

 

David and Joseph and What Their Eyes Saw

(2 Samuel 11:1,2 and Genesis 39:6-12)

 

During a time when kings usually go off to war, David stayed home.  One evening, he went for a walk on the roof of his palace.  From the rooftop, David would have had a commanding view of Jerusalem.  While walking around, he saw a beautiful woman, named Bathsheba, taking a bath.  Do you think she was clothed?  Unless you were wealthy, you might not have had the luxury of privacy.  Many people had to bathe on their rooftops.  Bathsheba was most likely naked. Once David saw her, he had a choice.  He could flee and turn his eyes away or he could choose to look at this beautiful, naked woman.  David was 'a man after God's own heart,' but in a momentary pause, in an otherwise righteous life, David made an impulsive decision.  He chose to look at her and to send for her (the eyes of man are never satisfied.. Proverbs 27:20,) and it meant that many lives would be devastated and even destroyed. 

 

  What was David doing that caused him to be idle or restless?  David was supposed to be off at war.  He was supposed to be fighting with his men.  Proverbs 18:9 says, "One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys."  Sometimes when we are idle or restless, we are vulnerable to sin.  When we are bored, the devil is happy to provide some deceptive thrills!  What should David have done and what are we to do when something is 'before our eyes' that might show people in skimpy clothes or without any clothes?

 

There are two things we should do immediately: 

1. Flee, run and 'turn our eyes away'

2.  Pray, cry out to God

 

Most men of that day did not have a rooftop access like that of the palace to view the world below or of women bathing on their rooftops.   Did David go up to the roof, because he knew he might catch a glimpse of a woman bathing?  Or was he innocently taking an evening stroll on the rooftop and thus, put himself in a tempting situation?  We don't really know.  What we do know is that David made a choice to look; to stare and to not turn away. 

 

This access to view a naked woman may have been readily available to only king David; however, this same sin, is readily available today, via the internet, for any man or woman, boy or girl by the few clicks of a button.

 ~

 Joseph was in charge of Potiphar's household.  Everything Potiphar had was entrusted to Joseph; everything except Potiphar's wife.  Joseph honored his master.  He was busy with work; he was 'attending to his duties.'   He wasn't bored or restless looking for some misguided excitement.  Potiphar's wife thought Joseph was handsome.  In trying to get his attention, it is possible she walked around in slinky clothes or possibly in no clothes at all!  She tried very hard to lure him and to get him to notice her.  Joseph said, "How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

 

Potiphar's wife continued to try and lure Joseph, so Joseph refused to even be around her.  One day, as he was going about his duties, Potiphar's wife grabbed Joseph.  It is possible that she was wearing very little or no clothes at all!  What did Joseph do in that split second he had to make a choice?  Did he look?  Did he consider staying with her?  No, in less than a second, he turned and ran!  Because she had grabbed him, as he turned to run, his coat came off!  He didn't try to reason with her, nor did he go back for his coat; he ran!  Joseph chose to obey God and flee the situation, and he made this choice immediately.

 

What do you think about these two men?  Do we ever seek out and choose to look at something we know we shouldn't?  Do we ever put ourselves in situations, where we know we might see something inappropriate?  What if we don't seek it out, but it is placed right before our eyes?  Where are some places we might see some naked people? (TV, movies, billboards, Internet, magazines, etc..)  'Nakedness' is not bad, but sin in the world distorts and has made ugly what God meant for beauty. 

 

'Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand' and turn away or flee the situation and pray.  If someone doesn't have their clothes on, whether on a billboard, the television, a computer or a phone,  you shouldn't look, but quickly turn away! (Ephesians 6:11)

 

Memory Verses

I will set before my eyes no vile thing. ~Psalm 101:3

Turn my eyes away from worthless things, preserve my life according to your word. ~Psalm 119:37

Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man. ~Proverbs 27:20

 

 We have blocks on our computers, televisions and phones.  We use a free service called K9 Web Protection.  While there have been a few exceptions, we typically do not let our children spend the night with friends.  The statistics are too staggering and at such young ages, we are not willing to put them into situations where they can't readily 'flee.'

 

Statistics

 Some researchers have stated that the average age of exposure to x-rated images is down to eight. Before the days of the Internet, children were typically between the ages of eleven to thirteen when they first viewed soft-core pornography found in magazines.  Today's child lives in a culture where it isn't just a picture of a naked person, but images of a sinister and hard-core nature. Our children are being seduced daily.  After writing this, I took my six year old to the mall.  I made a point to pay attention to what was in the store front windows, as well as, on the large posters in some of the stores.  Some of the advertisements are of children scantily dressed!  Other stores show near naked women or skimpy lingerie.  In the past, I hadn't given these things much thought.  These images are so common everywhere, I had become numb to them.
 
One statistic showed that 90% of children age 8-16 had seen inappropriate images online, while they were doing their homework.  The x-rated industry is larger than all major networks combined.  There are 26 children's character names (ex. Pokemon and Action Man) linked intentionally to inappropriate sites.  Often a misspelled character's name can take your child directly to an x-rated site.  This industry targets our young children.

Even though this is a heavy topic,  consider discussing it in a way that shows God's truths and in a way that is age appropriate.  As parents, we have to consider these statistics and prepare their eyes and their hearts for the battle ahead.  As our children grow, we will discuss these stories about David and Joseph in more detail.  For the purpose of discussing 'what our eyes see', we limited the details.

resources: NIV Bible, Bible.org, Focus on the Family, Toptenreviews.com

I hope you have a blessed Sunday!