The heart of the believer is tender and needs to be constantly watched over to avoid corruption and defilement. When God justifies a man, and makes him righteous at salvation, He also gives him the charge to keep himself pure. Failing in the responsibility to take away the things that have the capacity to defile a man will eventually result in eternal damnation. The believer is therefore expected to eschew evil and to abstain from all appearance of it.

The Word of God is infallible. Some people doubt the veracity of God's word when they compare references in the Old Testament with the words of Jesus in our key text. They support their ungodly retaliatory actions with the misinterpretation of these Scriptures: (Exodus 21:22-25; Leviticus 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 19:18-21). But these verses do not in any way support retaliation. The judges are to apply them to convicted persons while the law enforcement officers (not the victims) execute the court orders.

What pressures are you facing right now that appears to be unbearable? You can avoid making Esau's mistake by comparing the long-range consequences of an action to its short-term satisfaction before you act. Esau acted rather rashly without diligently considering the consequences of selling his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage. This connotes shortsightedness and misplaced priorities.

Many people do not seem to understand that worldly gain profits nothing. That explains why a man can do anything for material gain, at the expense of his never-dying soul. Your soul is so important to God and nothing will be accepted in exchange for it. There is no middle ground between the world and your soul: you either gain one and lose the other but the choice is yours.

King Darius preferred Daniel above all his cabinet ministers and was planning to make him the prime minister of the entire kingdom. However, due to envy, Daniel's colleagues sought to find an occasion against him; but they found none. Therefore, they misled the king to sign a decree that prohibited citizens from praying to any God or man for thirty days, except the king. Their intention was to trap Daniel and eliminate him.