Picking Up What Was Left Behind- 2 Samuel 5:21

The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.- 2 Samuel 5:21


I have been reading through the history books of the Old Testament lately.  I recently completed Judges, 1&2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and now I'm on 2 Kings and I have the Chronicles in my sights!!  This one passage has been weighing on my mind for the last few weeks. 

In this passage, the Philistines are engaged in battle with David and the Israelites.  Things are not going well for the Philistines, and they have brought their idols into battle for help.  Much like the Israelites that would bring the Ark of the Covenant into battle to secure the victory, here the Philistines were bringing their own idols for help.  Obviously, they were no help.  So the Philistines abandoned their idols and fled, and David's men took the idols and carried them away.  Presumably to be destroyed or disposed of accordingly, or as the King James Version states that they were burned. 

But, what if they were not destroyed?  What if some of the men did not dispose of them?  What if they picked up these idols and were affected by them?  For a moment, lets change the word "idols" to "habits". 
The Philistines abandoned their habits there, and David and his men carried them away.- 2 Samuel 5:21


Now the same thing applies, you would assume that these mighty men of God would take these habits and carry them away to be disposed of.  But what if they didn't dispose of all of them?  What if they hung on to some of the habits?

Lets apply this to our lives.  Aren't there times when we are situations where we are surrounded by bad habits, and it is so easy to pick them up and carry them away with us.  We hope that we are strong enough to hold out, and dispose of them properly, but how easy is it for those habits to get picked up by us and then make their way into our lives?  How easy is it to lapse into lying, gossip, cussing, drinking, cheating, etc. all because we pick up the habits left behind by others.  We need to be cautious, stay in the word and follow the admonitions of Galatians 5:

The Works of the Flesh

16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy,[e] drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The Fruit of the Spirit
22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.