Guarding Our Eyes

I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
–Job 31:1

In James 1:14–15, James gave us a formula for sin, and it starts with craving something that is outside of God’s will. James wrote, “Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

Sin begins with “[our] own lust,” our corrupt desires. Like a computer, each of us has an operating system that controls everything we do. But that operating system has been infected with a virus called sin. When God says no, our first impulse is to say yes. Sin begins when we are “carried away” by these corrupt desires. Then we are “enticed.” In Greek, this is a fishing term. I don’t enjoy fishing, but I know you have to dangle the right bait at the right time in order to get the fish to bite. Unlike me, Satan is a master fisherman. He knows when we’re vulnerable, and at just the right time, he drops the right bait, whether it’s sex, money, recognition, affection, or something else.

When we choose to take the bait, the result is sin. And sin “brings forth death”–not just physical death, but the death of relationships and dreams for the future. This is especially true of sexual immorality. Lust in the sexual sense can destroy everything important to us. That’s why we have to be aware of our own desires and the bait Satan dangles in front of us.

I’ve said before that sexual immorality in the bed begins in the head–but really, it begins with the eyes. Through the television, lust woos us; in magazines, it winks at us; and on the internet, it welcomes us.

People say, “There’s no harm in looking. I’m not going to act on what I see.” If that were true, then why would companies spend billions of dollars on advertising? They know we act on what we see and put into our minds. We have to be very careful what we allow ourselves to look at–if we’re not careful, looking can slip into lusting. As Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1).

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Moving from Lust to Purity,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.