Treasuring the Privilege of Fatherhood
There is an animal that inhabits the forests of Northern Europe and Asia known as the ermine or short-tailed weasel. The thing it is most famous for is its beautiful, snow-white fur. During the middle ages, prominent people in society such as judges or royals lined their coats with the ermine’s white fur - the white being an emblem of purity and honor.
The ermine has a special regard for its lovely fur which it will protect from anything that would spoil it. Some fur hunters have taken cruel advantage of the ermine’s preoccupation with keeping its coat clean. They do not set a trap to catch it by surprise, but instead find its home, a cleft in the rock or the hollow of a decaying tree, and daub the entrance and interior with filth.
The hunters conceal themselves and lay in wait for the ermine to wander by. Upon seeing it, they let their hunting dogs loose and the ermine flees toward its home, its only place of refuge. The ermine finds it stained with uncleanness but will not spoil its pure white coat. Rather than remain in the unclean place, the ermine crawls back out and faces the barking, maddened dogs. It will preserve the purity of its fur - even at the price of its life. It is better that the ermine be stained with its own blood than be spoiled by the filth of its surroundings.1
The ermine teaches a searching lesson to Christians living in this age of crime and sexual boldness. How much do we value our purity? Are we ready to die rather than defile the soul and body with sin?
In Joshua Harris’ introduction to the video series called “I Kissed Dating Goodbye,” there is a street scene where a number of people are asked, “What is purity?” Each person who was interviewed explained his or her concept of purity, but one question that stood out was by a teenager who asked, “Is that a perfume?” I couldn’t help thinking that this response was but a faint reflection of a society with forgotten morals.
The Collins English Dictionary defines the word pure as: “free from tainting or polluting matter; clean; wholesome: pure water.” Biblical purity encompasses our whole being, focusing on the motives, thoughts, and intents of the heart. It is a moral quality - to be free from sin. This is the work of Jesus for His people, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish”(Ephesians 5:27).
Contrary to popular philosophy, the Bible teaches us to look outside of and above ourselves for anything good. In fact, it says that any good whatsoever can only come from One Being: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). It is no different with purity.
Some months ago, a friend of mine took me to a market known especially for selling organic produce. As I walked past the stalls, I noticed a table on my right where a small white sign with bold black letters stood. The words read, “What you are looking for is inside you.” I looked at the man sitting behind the table; he seemed eager to hear my enquiry. “What do you mean by this sign?” I asked. He told me that what most people are looking to find is joy, love, and peace, and they would simply find these by looking inward, deep inside themselves.
As we spoke, I asked him if he had ever read the Bible. When he told me he hadn’t, I quoted a couple of verses saying that the human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9), and that Paul, the apostle, wrote concerning his own human nature, saying, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing”(Romans 7:18). I then asked, “If the human heart is deceitful above all things - how can we ever find joy, peace, and love by looking inside ourselves?”
Purity does not originate in men and women. Outside of the Word of God, human’s concepts of purity are as varied as the colors of the rainbow, and although we may appear pure in our own sight, our views are at best dim. Solomon stated this when he said, “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Proverbs 30:12).
Our only hope of becoming pure is by looking to Jesus, the embodiment of purity. The disciple John wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2, 3). Unless we do this, we will become just as pure as our dim views of purity will take us - or “man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness.”2
Christians are living today in times like no other. Jesus described the unhappy experience of many last-day Christians when He said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). Familiarity with sin will chill the “hottest” Christian.
Pornography and immorality are no longer confined to obscure locations in city districts but are easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection or mobile phone. And this usually involves young people. Many of them are wiser than their parents with technology. Sexual vice and immorality has certainly reared its ugly head in the homes of careless Christians.
Society is made up of families. Christian families are supposed to guard the purity and happiness of the race. But how can families guard the purity of society while the sacredness of their own home is pillaged with sexual filth? Children who have access to sensual or pornographic images on television, books, internet, or other media will reap the fruit that parents have allowed to be sown in their sensitive and receptive minds.
I have met parents who show no concern about what their children and teens are seeing on the internet, books, or mobile phones. They place no great importance on strictly guarding the avenues to their heart.
A child’s life is composed of what enters through his or her senses. And approximately 80% of what they learn comes through eyesight. The things we hear, touch, taste, and smell, but above all, the things we see mold our thoughts. Thoughts produce actions, repeated actions become habits, and before we know it we are reaping the fruit of the seeds sown in our minds - whether good or bad.
We read with horror about the pagan cultures in Bible times who offered their children as burned sacrifices to Molech. But parents, do you realize that by allowing your children to watch whatever they like on television or YouTube and to surf the internet unguardedly and with no purpose in view, you are throwing your children into a fire of sin that will arouse fiery passions within and consume them upon the altar of lust. Sensual thoughts will be aroused and passions inflamed, all leading to self-abuse. If they are saved, they will have a hard battle with self to fight - and only by the grace of God can they win.
If the heart is sick, so is the body. Spiritually, the heart is the center of our affections, emotions, motives, and desires.
The heart is the core of our being. Solomon wrote, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Through sin, the heart of men and women has become corrupt. Jesus said, “from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23). Therefore; the Saviour’s chief concern is for the human heart.
God’s invitation is, “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways” (Proverbs 23:26). God alone can purify our heart. After his sin of adultery, David yearned for purity of heart. In deep repentance he cried, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
The process of God in cleansing the heart from sin cannot be explained in this short article. But this statement will shed more light, “The science of salvation cannot be explained; but it can be known by experience.”3
God has promised cleansing to all who will look to Him for purity, no matter what the sin. Listen to His promise, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
How can we maintain purity in such a sinful age as this? The only way is to purpose in our heart, not to defile ourselves with sin by living in union with Christ’s divine power. His truth will be our shield and buckler.
Remember the ermine? That little creature knows how to keep its fur clean. It is ready to die rather than defile its pure coat with filth. In like manner, “Death before dishonor or the transgression of God’s law”4 will be our motto, if we wish to preserve the purity of our character.