Watch Your Eyes!

"Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man."

Proverbs 27:20

Truly this passage shows us a profound reality when it comes to man's sinful nature and it's lust. All of us have experienced the cravings of the flesh, and it's demand for more. But one thing that we should know and understand about lust is that it promises satisfaction but it's reward is emptiness - only a hunger for more. It is never, ever satisfied.

There is lust for power, some lust for blood. Most lust after money, prestige, and sex which is very rampant nowadays, so I want to deal in one area of lust that cannot be easily traced yet prone to everyone: "Lust of the eye". Yes, everyone is prone to the lust of the eye whether you're a christian or not, whatever status you're in. You are in this battle whether you like it or not - young and old, men and women alike - we all face this problem and we must admit it. Well it is another problem if you are not aware of this dilemma, then it is another matter to deal with. But I want to concentrate here, and expose the risk of breeding this kind of lust in our hearts. 

We are in a generation which promotes sex almost everywhere - fashion, songs, movies, commercials, magazine, TV shows, billboards, etc. In our daily lives we must admit that we are bombarded with sexually inspired images which stimulates our mind and encourages it to go beyond what we normally think about and entertain those images in our minds, until our eyes seek for something more, it hungers for something new. 

The Lord Jesus Himself taught us in Matt. 5:28 that if we look at a woman with lustful intent, we have already committed adultery in our hearts. The major problem with lust of the eye is it obviously lead us to sin in our hearts and take us away from God's will in our lives.

When we look at something, our minds will chew the information and flash those images in our mind. And if our minds find those images appealing it will automatically be stored in our memories. That is the problem with pornography for example. It feeds the lust of the eye. And even after repenting of that sin, those images are stored in your memory and it can be pulled out anytime and anywhere, and once we cherish it at the moment in our hearts, we commit the same sin all over again. Our purity is at stake. That is why I believe Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look at a virgin, and I believe that is not with lustful intent (Job 31:1). And these are not restricted only to men, but women are also prone to this danger, so we all should take extra precaution. 

Our eyes are never satisfied with lust once it starts, so we should take steps on how to mortify the flesh in this area, and not forget that it should be through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13). We should make it our aim to please God than to please ourselves and our flesh. Let us push ourselves not to linger on things where we shouldn't look at. And so, purify our minds and renew it, and not follow the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2). Therefore, we put away thoughts which is not pleasing to God, and replace it with pure thoughts which is good before the Lord, and strive and fight for the purity of our hearts, mind, and our eyes.