Lust Series

The story begins in classic style: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1).

Leave aside the suggestion that there were apparently seasons when kings were supposed to wage war, the question that comes to mind here is: What was King David doing at home when his army was out fighting? In the old days David would have led his men into battle, but the king had obviously become a little indolent, preferring to take leisurely strolls on the roof of his palace and spy on women bathing rather than dorn armor and do noble deeds that were really kingly. His had become an idle mind.

The familiar saying that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop is true, and whenever we are unoccupied, our minds become a veritable playground for the enemy. I don’t need to validate this statement; I am sure we can all attest to this truth from personal experience.

What’s the solution? To keep ourselves busy. And if we can’t, to fill our minds with good thoughts. “Whatever is true,” Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8 NIV).

Sin always begins in the mind, and while we can’t always control the initial wave of thoughts that sweep over it, we can control how we deal with them. When it comes to lust we have to be ruthless in cutting off the thoughts the moment we recognize them as bad because, as we saw earlier, if we allow ourselves the slightest leeway, we’re on a slippery slide straight into the arms of the devil.

Most of us have trigger points and we need to be aware of them. Does the sight of the skimpily clad men and women in Baywatch make you drool? Don’t watch it. Or the Page 3 girls in the tabloid section of the newspaper? Skip past that section. Or chatting on the Internet? Kill your MSN. It can be anything. I know a man who used to get aroused reading comic books: Betty and Veronica used to stir him up!

Jesus told us in no uncertain terms what needs to be done. “If your hand or foot causes you to sin,” he said, “cut it off and throw it away.” he recommended we do the same thing with our eyes (cf. Matthew 8:18-19). Translated, this means: Do not watch/listen/read/browse anything on television/radio/books/magazines/internet that could nourish impure thoughts, feelings or fantasies. And that includes Archie comics if they mess up your mind.

Lessons from the woman at the well

We can learn an even more important lesson from the Samaritan woman Jesus met by a well.

One day Jesus was on his way to Galilee from Judea when he stopped by a well for a rest. While he was there a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well, and after a brief exchange of words involving “living water”, Jesus told her to call her husband and come back. The woman said she had no husband. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband” (John 4:18).