The Place to Kill a Cobra

The most effective place to deal with sin is at the “eye” stage. That may mean the actual seeing of evil with the physical eye, or seeing it in imagination with the mental eye. “The best place to kill a cobra,” runs an old Indian proverb, “is in its egg.”

Most sin follows on from a failure to kill it at the place of desire—the “eye.” Matthew 6:22 says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” When an evil thought comes, try blinking your eyes very rapidly and you will discover that the thought is broken up. It is a voluntary act demanding the attention of the will, and thus draws attention away from the evil thought. Add to this action the simple prayer that Peter prayed when he was about to sink into the waters of the Sea of Galilee: “Lord, save me!”

Another thing you can do when a sinful thought or desire invades your mind is to change whatever you are doing in order to focus your attention elsewhere. An old Welsh miner I knew told me many years ago that when he was a young man, he was out walking one day and was attacked with an evil thought. He deliberately picked up a heavy stone and carried it back home. The attention necessary to carry the load made him forget the thought.

These ideas may not work for everyone, but they have certainly worked for some. Another way to deal with an evil thought or desire is to focus your attention on a mental picture of Christ on the cross. It is hard to think of evil and Him at the same time. They are incompatibilities.

Further Study

Isa 33:10-17; Ps 119:59; Pr 15:26; Rm 8:6

What is the result of refusing to contemplate evil?

How will you guard your eyes today?