Lust! Of The Flesh And Eyes!

Pornography, we see it everywhere we turn. Some of it is camouflaged in brown wrappers in stores so the young people don't look at it. Some is in movies, but probably the most accessible place would be our Internet. We as men are probably the worst offenders at checking these sites out. I doubt that any man can say that he hasn't at sometime in his life looked at a Playboy or Hustler magazine. Why do we look at this?

It is because of the lust of the flesh. We are told many places in God's Word about lust and what it does to us. We are told not to lust after women for this is sin. This is the hard one for men, and that is why God gives us so many Scriptures that address this issue. God knows us better than we know ourselves and He tells us not to do it. We might say "what does it hurt"? When we keep looking then we start fantasizing, then it develops into action. Natural progression of sin.
We see, we like, we want, next thing we know, we are in sin. We all know that sin leads to death.

So where does this lust come from?
1John;2:16-17
(For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of the world. The world is passing away, also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.)
So we see that lust is worldly, and we are told not to love the things of the world. We men have the choice to look away when lust presents itself, or take the second look and have temptation set in and then thoughts get into our head that don't belong there. God tell us that if we lust after a woman, we have committed adultery with her already. Adultery is sin and there is no way of getting around it.

We need to guard our heart, and one way of doing this is to be in the Word of God. God knows our weaknesses and so does Satan. Satan will tempt you in your most vulnerable spot. With men this is one of our vulnerable spots if not our most venerable area. There is grave consequences for this sin. We are deliberately disobeying a commandment of God, and we will pay for this sin. Look at some of the things that can happen. You can ruin a family, catch a disease, you can get this person pregnant. There is always the chance that this person will have an abortion. One sin can lead to many sins, by many people.

We are told to take control of our desires, and with God's help, we can.
1Peter;2:11
(Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust which wage war against the soul.)
1Corinthians;6:18
(Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.)
We have warning after warning from the Scriptures, so we must take heed and obey.
2Timothy;2:22
(Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith,love and peace, with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.)

So we need to live our life to please our Lord and Savior. He has given us the natural desire and that desire needs to be confined within our marriage. The next time we are confronted with the temptation of lust, look to our Lord and Savior for strength to look away. It is easier to look away than to succumb and have to deal with the consequences of sin.
2Peter2:9
(then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.)
All we have to do is keep our eyes focused on Jesus. The minute we think we can do it on our own, we have set ourselves up for failure.

I pray this gives everyone of us something to think about the next time we are tempted. There will always be a next time as long as we remain on the earth. Let's remain in the word and stay true to God.

God Bless You!