Keep yourself from being polluted

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 NIV

In an article posted last week titled, "Why You Might Want to Reconsider Running Next to a Highway Every Day," it was reported that traffic-related air pollution has the potential to negatively affect our performance and our health. Multiple studies have found that exercising near traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) negatively affects respiratory function. In the short-term, TRAP can cause coughing, chest tightness, and wheezing. Evidence also shows it can increase an athletes’ heart rate and breathing, a good reason for highly-polluted cities that have hosted the Olympic Games—including Beijing and Rio de Janeiro—to require traffic shutdowns and closures of industrial plants to improve air quality. The long-term health effects of exercising near TRAP are less clear. However, the evidence we have on air pollution in general suggests that over time, dirty air can impair the immune system and research associates it with an increased risk of health conditions like heart disease, asthma, obesity, cognitive decline, and cardiorespiratory diseases.

And you know, while you and I should most definitely keep our bodies from breathing in poisonous traffic emissions and fumes if we want to remain physically healthy, we must also keep our souls from "being polluted by the world" if we want to remain spiritually healthy. That means sheltering our eyes and ears from taking in anything that would contaminate our hearts and minds. Things like worldly images, morals, beliefs, narratives, and attitudes that are contrary to what the Bible teaches us are "pure and faultless." These "things" might seem harmless in small quantities but you can be sure, over time, will impair our ability to see the truth and will most assuredly lead us astray. 

So guard yourself against taking in (by breathing, viewing, hearing or touching) even the most minute thing that could poison your body, your heart, your spirit or your mind my friend. This is the only way to keep yourself "from being polluted by the world" and becoming spiritually impaired. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that the things we listen to, look at, and think about can be deadly to our hearts, our souls, and our minds. Knowing that, help us to look to the Word for truth, protection and guidance so that we would be able to recognize the false teachings, sin, idols, and corruption all around us and avoid it. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!