“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see.” (I John 2:16)
He was a young man. Strong and handsome. In all probability, he stood out from all the other young men in his town. Taller and better looking than any of his friends and schoolmates. Captain of the football team, he could intercept every pass and carry the ball into the end zone with ease, dragging several members of the opposing team with him. He was the one every young man envied, and every girl wanted to date. His mother and father wanted the best for him. They wanted God’s best for him, so they warned him about dating anyone who was not a God-follower. Sadly, he did not listen to them. He wandered to the wrong side of the tracks, went to parties he wasn’t supposed to go to. It was there that a pretty girl caught his attention. A girl who did not revere God. One look at her, and the young man knew he wanted her, so he determined he would not allow anyone to keep him from her. He brushed aside his parent’s advice, even demanding they help him secure the girl for his own. Lust ruled his heart. The result was tragic. He married the young girl who eventually turned against him.
Lust is a very strong desire that can draw us toward craving things we set our eyes on. If it looks good to us, we assume it must be good for us. If it appeals to us, we allow it to beguile us. IT – can be a person, a material thing, money, or power. The moment we attach our sight and our minds to a thing we lust, a battle in our heart begins to reign. “I know I shouldn’t…..but”
Lust is nothing new. It began back in the Garden of Eden. God told the man and woman to avoid the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil told them to make a salad with it. So, when the woman saw that “it was good for food, a delight to the eyes, and was desired to make one wise,” she ate it. The deed was done, the lust of the flesh emerged, and all of mankind has been tempted to lust since then.
Lust, is ingrained in our human nature. Lust, was ingrained in the human nature of the young man I told you about in the beginning of this blog. So what ever happened to that young man anyway? Well actually, you already know the answer to that. In fact, you know a lot about that young man. His name was Samson. (Judges 14, 15, and 16) After the betrayal of his first love, he ended up with a prostitute from Timnah. And of course, the infamous Delilah, who betrayed him to the Philistines. Now here’s the part of the story of Samson that I find most intriguing. When the Philistines captured Samson, the first thing they did – was gouge out his eyes. Lust would no longer be a problem for Samson.
Jesus said, “If your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.” (Matthew 5:29) No, Christ was not preaching self-mutilation. He was preaching self-denial. A lesson Samson needed to learn. A lesson we all need to learn.
Darlene