Dealing with The Twin Foxes of Lust and Impurity

UV 1522/10000 Dealing With the Twin Foxes of Lust and Impurity
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Matthew 5 v 28
Lust is such a sly fox that it develops in subtle ways. Jesus, the Master Psychologist that He is, stated that even a look with lust at a woman or man amounts to adultery. The very thought is the sin. No wonder in law it is not the actual act per se but the thought, the guilty conscience or “mens rea” that is sought to be proven and punished. The psalmist said that he stored God’s word in his heart that he may not look at a woman with lust. Yet David, the foremost of the psalm writers fell to the sin of lust and committed adultery with Bathsheba. In a moment of weakness, he fell to a sin for which he would be remembered forever and for which he paid sorely in the course of his life.
Samson though he could catch 300 little foxes and set their tails on fire, could not deal with the fox of lust. From his early days, he never disciplined his physical desires. We read in scripture of how he visited a prostitute. His enemies the Philistines decided that they could exploit this one weakness of Samson to destroy him. They set the wily but beautiful Delilah on him to reveal the secret of his great and invincible strength. Three times he told Delilah fibs about the source of his strength and the fourth time, he revealed the truth. The result was that while he slept, his seven locks of hair were shaved off. His eyes that were the cause of his lust were cruelly gouged out by the enemies. This is the reason Jesus said, “ If your eyes causes you to sin and lust, it is better that they are gouged out.” It implies that if we allow lust to overcome us, it is as good as having our eyes gouged out. It is as painful and blinding. We need to deal with lust ruthlessly and have it burnt down to its roots. Feeding the lust with pornography is like playing with fire. It will destroy us, our marriages, our minds and our future. Jesus said that the eyes are the windows of the body and if we are used to see darkness through these windows, our whole being- spirit, mind and body- will be full of darkness.

Joseph was the one who was most successful in setting the tail of the fox of lust on fire. When Potiphar’s wife lusted for him and attempted to persuade him to sleep with her, he decided in his heart not to betray his master. He literally fled from the scene of lust, leaving his garment in the hand of Potiphar’s wife that she falsely presented as evidence of a sexual assault by him. James draws the metaphor of a baby being formed when he writes that “sin when it is conceived, bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” It implies that the first thought of lust brings forth the baby of sin with all its limbs and trunk and when that baby is fed, it grows, matures and becomes death to the one who is nourishing lust in his heart and mind. Lust and impurity are the two related foxes we should tie tail to tail and set on fire and drive into the enemy territory so that they try not to enter our lives no more.

Prateep V Philip