Watch What You Watch

Matthew 5:27-28 “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.”
 
JESUS’ teaching speaks to a man’s greatest temptation and a most common deadly sin. And some of you ladies might say, “Do you hear Jesus, guys?” Yes, we men really do need to hear this. And I think we all know that God’s Word always applies to everyone. It’s true the Bible’s words are gender specific at times. So it is good to know that in the New Testament the word “man” is from a Greek word that means “humans” or “humanity”. Jesus does teach us all to watch what we watch.
   Indeed, we must be very, very careful about what our eyes see. The eyes may be the window to the soul, but they are also the first view to temptation. Think about Eve’s sin in the Garden. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. (Genesis 3:6) David’s adulterous, murderous sin started here: One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful. (2 Samuel 11:2)
   Desires of our hearts begin in the eye. Advertisers certainly know that, don’t they? Automobile ads, for example, are loaded with stunning scenery, beautiful  people and the sparkling car. You see the driving experience through a television screen, and you want to be in it. When you buy the car, this will be your life!
   A man who gazes upon a woman may begin with a casual, unsuspecting look. She walks into his view. Then he has choices. Does he gaze a little longer to appreciate that she is a beautiful woman? Does he look a little bit more to begin to say to himself, “I desire her.” Many a man will say, “It doesn’t hurt to look.” But it does. It hurts your wife, your children and your own mind. Sin’s corrupting temptation needs only a small seed to begin.
   On the positive side, that first look is how many marriages begin – and how they end. The first glance goes to the second. Moments of recognition become desire to touch what is pleasing to the eye. But then it is the moment to stop. We must know those moments are forbidden fruit, displeasing to God and to all you love. Choose to keep your eyes at home, so you will lead your home for Christ.
   Certainly this is true of men and women. All are subject to temptation. Pornography and adultery rage through our households. Watch what you watch. Turn off the temptations in your lives. Turn on Jesus. Remember, what you see affects your heart. Are your eyes guarding your heart?
 
Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.