COVENANT EYES
Job
31:1
In today’s technological age we are bombarded with all
kinds of ways to cause us to stumble, especially in the area of sexual
immorality. Everywhere you turn
we are faced with the temptation of lust or sexual immorality! In his book Eyes of Integrity, Craig Gross contends that our
battle with sexual immorality (and other sins) often begins in the mind. He went
on to share the following personal story about identifying the battle for our
mind:
“It was spring break
in New Orleans, the streets were packed with college-age partiers, and the
debauchery had reached an all-time high. My friend Donald and I ... had no idea
we were going to be stepping into a raucous street party. A few minutes of the madness
swirling around us, and both of us knew we needed to get out. Quick. The smell
of beer infused the air, and high above the street level, lined along the
apartment balconies, women revelers danced, flashing the crowd. Spontaneous
applause and cheers erupted in every direction every few seconds. Waiting for a cab, I
was torn as thoughts of these women flooded my mind. I was thinking about who
they were. I thought of my own little girl at home and wondered if any dads
knew their little girls were here, dancing. But while one side of me wanted to
pray for the lost little girls, I felt the other side being drawn in, tempted
to stop and stare. I was engulfed in a war of conscience and conviction,
between my commitment to guard my mind and a strong call to take mental
snapshots…….” As the Apostle said "Take every thought captive" Why? He knew the mind is the root issue, the systematic cause
of all moral failures.
Craig went on to say “The mind begins the process of every
action we take, and I had to ask myself: Am I willing to arrest these thoughts
that are producing an insane magnetism towards unhealthy action? When I sat in
the taxicab with my mind on erotic autopilot, I had to make a decision ….
[Thankfully], God was faithful and really did provide a way out for me.”
Whether it’s through…..
- I phone
- I pad
- Lap top
- Desk top
- Ps3
- Xbox
- Television
- Bill board ads
- Check-out lines
- Walking down a busy city street
- Going to a baseball game! Yes, even going to a baseball game
Everywhere you look, men and women of all ages are faced with the temptation of the eyes. This is a battle field that many Christians are losing these days…..and it’s going to hurt if you fall to this form of behaviour. Porn is reported to be a 12 billion dollar industry in the U.S alone. 50 percent of men viewed pornography within one week of attending a Promise Keepers stadium event. In a 2003 Focus on the Family poll 47 percent of respondents said porn is a problem in their home.The use of pornographic material among Christians continues to rise, reaching near rampant proportions in the church. Shocking statistics released by Net Accountability reveal that 50 percent of evangelical pastors viewed pornography last year. Focus on the Family recently reported that one in seven calls to their pastoral care line concern Internet pornography. According to a study cited in the Washington Post, more than 11 million teenagers view Internet pornography on a regular basis. 30 percent of women are addicted to porn and it’s increasing daily. 67 percent of men say they look at it at least once a month.
These startling statistic is an indication at just how
deeply the church has been affected by porn. No matter where a
Christian is in their walk with Christ, these numbers reveal that he or she is
still susceptible to these sins. Influential pastor Chuck Swindoll has called porn "the #1 secret problem in your church.” "It’s ruining
marriages, destroying relationships, harming youth, and hurting the body of
Christ," he has lamented. "Our churches are in trouble. This is no
time to simply wait and pray." The problem lies here! When something is
forbidden, or banned on grounds of morality, it becomes taboo. Nothing in the church
is more taboo than sexual sins. Indeed, the hallmark of Christian virtue is
sexual purity. The Bible repeatedly tells us to abstain from sexual
immorality and pursue purity.
Proverbs
4:23 “We
are to guard our hearts. It is the core of who we are. When you join together
with another person sexually you become one. You can't separate from another
without leaving part of yourself with them.”
Ephesians
5:3, 2 Timothy 2:22 “There
is to be no hint of sexual immorality among us.”
1
Thessalonians 4:3-5 “God's
will for us is that we be sanctified and avoid sexual immorality and control
our bodies in a way that is pleasing to God.”
So what are we to do? Set a high biblical standard of
sexual purity and condemn sexual sins in our lives. But the church faces another problem! When we hammer away
on the evils of sexual sins people decide not to talk about them at all. And since it’s not
talked about, everyone assumes there is no problem. Or, if there is one, it’s
with other people……. not you. We know there is tons of help aids out there for computer
blockers [Covenant
Eyes, Net Nanny, K9 Web protection, Get Cold turkey] to name a few. All these are
excellent resources to get if you struggle in this area, but they doesn't protect you [us] from all other resources that tempt our hearts like TV, magazine
racks, school campuses, the work place or people just walking around you in
general. If you think this doesn't concern you! Think again……there is not one man or woman exempt from
this problem. They just come in different packages…….SEE!
- Men tend to be aroused visually, women through touch and hearing.
- Men give love to get sex, women give sex to get love.
- Men usually initiate and women respond; men are excited by pursuit, women by being pursued.
- Men are tempted by the pleasure of lust, women by the power of lust.
- Men are often motivated by physical desires, women by emotional and relational longings.
A prime example can be found in the fall of David, Samson! But what we should
remember is the example of Joseph when
he was faced with the temptation of lust! “How then can I do
this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Gen 39:9. See Joseph was a man who I want to follow
after, with my eyes, body and heart daily. A man who desired to
please God over himself and his lustful passions. But there is another
example of a man who felt the same as Joseph? His name is Job and its
found in the 31st chapter of Job in versus one.
See, Job makes a covenant promise with his eyes under
God’s grace in his life.What Job is really saying is….. He would not allow
His eyes or thoughts to endanger him by improperly contemplating a woman. Basically! I want to serve God
with all my actions and aspersions. I want to look upon
women as God’s daughters and not as things or objects that fulfill my
obsessions. I want to treat women
as God treats them…..with high honor and not as second class people. This is a covenant
that not only men young or old should apply, but women as well.
A covenant by definition is…….a contract or
agreement between two or more parties. Job makes this covenant
with God because he wants to honor God with his life. As Jesus said “blessed are the pure in heart for they
shall see God” Job wants to see God
and we should have that same passion and goal as well. HERE ARE
SOME HELPFUL THINGS WE [YOU] CAN APPLY TO YOUR LIFE ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD!
1. DON’T THINK YOU’RE IMMUNE FROM SEXUAL TEMPTATION.
1Cor 10:12 “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he
stands take heed lest he fall.” Establish wise
boundaries: for example, don’t talk with a man out of eyesight or earshot of
others, avoid personal online communication with men or women…..and steer clear of
private places with your boyfriend or girlfriend or someone of the opposite sex.
2. CUT THE TEMPTATION
OUT OF YOUR LIFE.
Matt 5:27-30 "You have heard
that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that
everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it
out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than
that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to
sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your
members than that your whole body go into hell.” If you love certain
music, romantic movies or novels are encouraging you to be dissatisfied with
your singleness or unhappy with your husband or wife, perhaps it’s time to give
them up. It’s time to do some
spring cleaning in your life. If something causes
you to stumble then it has to go; because it’s far better to obey God, then
your lustful passions.
3. FILL YOUR MIND WITH GOD’S WORD AND THE THINGS OF GOD.
Ps 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By
guarding it according to your word.” When impure thoughts
enter your head, repeat a Bible passage so there’s no room for sin. If you’re married,
get to know the Song of Solomon and bring it to mind when you’re feeling
unenthusiastic or your thoughts stray during relations with your spouse. If your single or
thinking of dating….stay pure and honor God with your life until the
appropriate time [Marriage] As the Hebrew writer said in Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is to be honored by all people.
The marriage bed is to be kept pure. God will judge the sexually immoral and
the adulterer.”
4. USE YOUR BODY TO SERVE THE LORD AND KEEP YOUR BODY CLEAN
AND PURE AS A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1Cor 6:13 "Food is meant for the stomach and the
stomach for food"—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is
not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” Though God made an
appetite for food, and provided food for that appetite, yet he has not made the
body for any uncleanness, nor indulgence in
sensuality; but he has made it for Christ and His glory. Use your body to
serve your marriage and your purity before God as Job did with his covenant.
5. Hate evil and put to death earthly desires at work in me
for sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil passions and greed.
Ps 97:10 “O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He
preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the
wicked.” As Paul said in Col 3:5 “Put to death therefore what is
earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry.” Run, sprint, speed
walk for all I care, but flee from all forms of sexual immortality. If that means you
can’t go to certain places like: Malls, Department stores, events, and so on. If that means your
wife needs to put on passwords that she only knows on the TV, computer, even
your cell phone it’s all worth it. Flee from the council
of the ungodly and hate the sin which held you captive for so many years. And always remember
your victory lies in the finished work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary. John MacArthur said “A believer’s struggle with sin is
like getting rid of weeds from a garden. If you keep cutting the weeds off at
the ground level, they will keep growing and coming back. If you want to remove
the weeds permanently, you must kill them below the surface of the ground—at
the root level. That is how it works with sin. You must see your sinful
tendencies as dead remnants of your past life that must be rooted out, as Colossians
3:5 teaches: “Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to
idolatry.” If you try to stop sinning merely in an external way—not dealing
with the root problem at the heart level—you will not develop long-term
holiness. As the great Puritan preacher John Owens wrote, “Be killing sin or it
will be killing you.”
Job intended to live a chaste life! Shouldn't this be the pattern of our lives? Whether your male or
female, young or old this should be our covenant, our children’s covenant and
grandchildren’s covenant. Why? It brings glory to God and a joy and peace in your
heart. Joseph said “how could I do this evil, wickedness and
sin against God” Let it not be true of us! But always remember
this problem of sexual immorality isn’t going away anytime soon. At least not until
Christ comes back and judges this earth of its wickedness and depravity! But until that day comes….He has given us His
Spirit to direct, convict and keep us alert in His righteousness. Remember “For God has not
called us for impurity, but in holiness.” 1 Thess 4:7. Use your body, your marriage, your singleness for His glory and the gospel, not for sexual immorality.
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