Don't look

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

DON’T LOOK

Matt 5:27-30

27 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'   28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

NIV

Not that difficult of an idea here, just don’t look. Certainly our day and age is not much different than in the days of Christ as far as men looking at woman with some degree of lust in their hearts. But today we also have women looking at men with lust in their hearts. It is not uncommon to hear women commenting about a male actor, as also do men about female actors. With the type in common it would be normal to consider there is an amount of lust in the heart. This is exactly what Jesus is talking about, a heart issue. Not that he is speaking about actors, but about the everyday normal interaction with those of the opposite sex. Yet what sin do we not commit? The idea is that of course we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. Yet Jesus expands on the idea of committing the act of adultery and makes it a heart issue. The idea he seems to convey is not to put ourselves in the position of having that lust in our hearts. Don’t look. But that is nearly impossible unless we restrict ourselves to solitary confinement. Then we would still have to deal with the mind’s eye. All that we have ever seen is always in the mind’s eye. So then how can we gouge out our eyes? What else could this mean? In the context of this passage it certainly appears this is specific to adultery in the sexual sense. Yet at the same time whenever we lust after anything of this world, we are in essence committing adultery against God, as we are the bride of Christ. So lusting after clothes, cars, money or anything within the world is committing adultery. When we desire something so much we spend much of our efforts in pursuit of it, it could be considered lusting after it. This is how adultery of the heart works. Don’t look. How can we not? If we say that we want to be more like Jesus, then when we look at another person, of the opposite sex, we look upon them as Jesus would. If they are sick, pray for them. If they are in need of salvation, witness to them. If they are in need of help, assist them. If they are in whatever condition, what would, or how would Jesus handle the situation. But here we are with our heart, the one that is supposed to be filled with the Spirit. Yet it seems we have left some area unopened to the Spirit, keeping it for ourselves and our desires for whatever, in this case lustful thoughts. How do we deal with it matters. Don’t look. As one first lady coined the phrase, “Just say no” Every time we are presented with the opportunity to lust, just say no. It is not alright to just look, for looking with the wrong thoughts is the same as the act itself. Then we could say well then if I am guilty of the sin in my heart, I might as well have the act too. How dangerous the mind can be. Just say no. Don’t look. But they again in order to not look we would have to be in that solitary confinement. So how do we deal with all the visual images before us? Yes, we should be like Jesus, but we still live in this corruptible body that is plagued with all sorts of failures. We have television, movies, the internet, a consist arrival of adds in all sorts of forms to lure us to desire their merchandise or lifestyle. We are continually told we need to secure our future with gold and silver. We are presented with so many images it is almost impossible not to look and have some degree of lust, of want. This is the case here with those of the opposite sex. We cannot look with that kind of lust, the kind of want. This may be more difficult for the youth with raging hormones, then those in the twilight of their years. The whole idea, God created us as man and woman was to come together for the purpose of intimate moments to populate. He created those desires within both man and woman, and that should be confined to the marriage bed. Outside of that, we are in danger, if we look and want, in our heart. Just don’t look. This is not easy, but we just cannot look. Having said that, it still is not the unforgivable sin, but it is sin and when we find ourselves heading in that direction we need to repent, have a change in our thoughts, our heart, and seek the forgiveness of God, the strength of the Spirit to resist the devil and he will flee from us. That is all wrapped up in “just say no” or don’t look. Temptation will not disappear or go away. We have to learn how to live with temptations and just say no, or don’t look.