Police Devotional
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
God commands us to, “Fight the good fight of faith…” (1 Timothy 6:12). Serving the Lord can be a struggle in many areas. The Christian will struggle against things like the devil’s temptations to sin, the world’s temptation to vain attractions, and the flesh’s temptation to be indifferent to the things of God.
The place where people ultimately win or lose these struggles is their own heart: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:…” (Proverbs 23:7). People decide what kind of Christians they will be. Comedian Flip Wilson’s old line, “The devil made me do it” may have received some laughs, but it’s not true. The devil can only tempt people to quit on God. People ultimately decide how they’ll respond to the temptation.
The heart and mind are spiritual battlegrounds. Go to any Internet homepage, and you’ll see big and small headlines and photos about subjects like politics, war, sports, Hollywood, social issues, health, current events, as well as numerous ads. All of them are calling out to you, “CLICK ME! READ ME!” Some of them may seem interesting or entertaining. You could waste a lot of time and brainpower reading them. You could also intake a lot of “info” that’s the spiritual equivalent of junk food or outright poison.
Why are certain stories big news? Because the boss at the news agency says they’re news. How he or she decides that one story is news and another isn’t news is debatable; but if the boss thinks that you need to hear yet another story about global warming, anti-police protests, same-sex marriage, or some Hollywood scandal, then that’s what you’ll hear unless you decide, “I’m not wasting my time on that!”
Here is the importance of “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” What you see and hear affects your thought-life, whether you realize it or not. Lamentations 3:51 says, “Mine eye affecteth mine heart…” What you see and hear on the Internet, in the newspaper, on the radio, and even in conversation can affect you as a Christian, for good or bad.
As a cop, sometimes you can’t avoid seeing and hearing things that Christians generally shouldn’t see and hear. At other times, though, you can. So when you have to deal with something filthy on the job that can poison your thought-life, ask yourself two questions: “Am I looking at this because I have to, or because I want to?” and “Can I do my job just as well without looking at or listening to this?” Be honest. God already knows the answer, because “…he knoweth the secrets of the heart” (Psalm 44:21).
Even off the job, be choosy about what you hear and see. When you log onto the Internet, listen to the radio, watch TV, or even converse, ask yourself questions like: “Do I need to be in this conversation?” “If the Lord were here (and if you’ve received Him as your Saviour, He is there!), would I be pleasing Him?” “Will this help me as a Christian?” “Is this done in good taste?” “Is this really important, or some silly, time-wasting ‘fluff’?” “Would it hurt my testimony as a Christian if others saw me watching this?”
Ask the Lord to give you grace and wisdom to be diligent about “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”, to the obedience of Him. If you don’t know for sure that you have a home in heaven but want to see what the Bible says, please click “How do I go to Heaven?” on the sidebar.
Brian Miller 5/11/2015
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822