In Numbers 19:15 we read, “Every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.” A very important principle is embodied in these words, for in our everyday lives—at school, in the workplace, while shopping— we are often unavoidably exposed to “corrupt communication.” Even though we may “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11), we are defiled by them. We may not allow “corrupt communication to proceed out of [our] mouth” (Eph. 4:29), but we must remember that “evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33).
In a sinful world, it is easy for our minds to become “open vessels” with no covering on them. They can effortlessly be open and ready to receive whatever comes before them, and this, of course, is just what Satan wants. Our minds are often mentioned in the Scriptures, and we are to take control of them. We are reminded to “gird up the loins” of our minds (1 Peter 1:13) and to set them on “things above” (Col. 3:2). If we would keep the vessel of our mind clean, we must have a covering bound upon it. The covering must not be loosely applied either; it must be “bound upon” the vessel, so that it cannot easily be removed.
In our day, the covering would correspond to the Word of God. If the Word of God is read in the home before we go out to meet the world, it will form a covering upon our minds. A mind that is filled with the things of Christ will not easily be opened to the evil communications of this world. Let us take care, then, to read the Scriptures, first of all for ourselves, and then, if we are parents, let us read them to our children, in order that their minds may be closed to the defiling influences of this world.
A. C. Hayhoe (adapted)