It’s TIME to make a ‘COVENANT’ with our EYES!
June 3
Bible Reading: Job Chapters 31-33
It’s TIME to make a ‘COVENANT’ with our EYES!
"I have made a covenant with my eyes;
why then should I look upon a young woman?" (Job 31:1)
In a last
effort to prove his innocence and to move God to act on his behalf, Job makes
an oath, enumerating a lengthy list of sins of which he is innocent. In the
above verse, Job mentions that he had made a covenant with his eyes not to look
lustily on a woman. This covenant conveys the truth that lustful acts are preceded by lustful looks and thoughts. Job
determined in his heart to exercise the will power necessary not to think
lustful thoughts about young maidens. He
disciplined himself not to take the second look that leads to lust!
The ethical
content of Job’s confession, with its emphasis on inward motivation (see vv. 1, 2, 24, 25, 33, 34) and attitude (see vv. 1, 7, 9, 26, 27, 29,
30), is unique and unparalleled until Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew chapters
5–7). In one final plaintive defense of his integrity, Job recounted his life
of moral integrity. When Job made a covenant with his eyes, he wisely
recognized that the eye is the main
avenue for temptation (see vv. 7, 9, 26, 27).
Job’s
sufferings had caused him to make a sweeping inventory of his inner life. One
of the areas he evaluated was his attitude toward women. He catalogued the
steps of lust from “looking upon a
virgin” (v. 1), to allowing one’s
heart to follow one’s eyes (v. 7), to finally
allowing oneself to be enticed by a woman and then scheming to have her (v.
9).
It is clear
that Job viewed lust as a serious moral
failure (v. 11). God sees all our ways and counts all our steps (v. 4). God
sees everything (Heb. 4:13) and ultimately we are accountable to Him. So, we must abstain from sexual immorality
(1 Thess. 4:3), and this is our boundary of morality with regards to lust of
the eyes (Matt. 5:28). God has called us to holiness – not to uncleanness (1
Thess. 4:7). So, we should maintain holiness by not permitting any filth to
pass through our eye-gate…for a look that
lingers can lead to lust!
Let us never forget that the mighty king David,
a man after God's own heart, succumbed to temptation by looking at Bathsheba
bathing that led him to committing adultery, murder and serious deception
later. It’s time to make a covenant with our eyes today!
"For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:16-17)
