PROTECTING OURSELVES

Have you noticed that every jar of foodstuffs that we might buy at a supermarket (jams, Marmite, etc.), has two labels fixed to it:

1)     A label of IDENTIFICATION, and

2)     A label of PROTECTION

The Identification label indicates the product’s name, who made it, dietary information and weight.

The Protection label is affixed to the jar’s lid, and is added to ensure that no one can tamper with the contents by someone adding harmful contaminants, or by sneaking a taste….! This label was introduced following a number of high-profile cases involving contaminated baby food jars in the late 1980s.

The Bible tells us that we have been sealed with a seal of identification and ownership:

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.  (Ephesians 1:13, 14)

But interestingly, unlike jars of produce we might buy, we are told that we are to take responsibility to ensure no contaminants are allowed in to pollute us:

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:30 – 32)

How then should we protect ourselves from contamination? Solomon gives some helpful insights:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.(Proverbs 4:23 – 27)