The Eyes Have It! - Job

“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. . . . For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.”

Job 31:1, 11

If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned.

This old expression isn’t really a warning not to play with fire but a caution against putting yourself in places where you could endanger your health or life.

Suppose you were to speak to someone who had been badly injured through his own carelessness at home or behind the wheel. Do you think you would find that he had planned to hurt himself that day? Would you not more likely discover that carelessness or lack of preparation led to his disaster?

Sexual temptation burns many men simply because they are careless and unprepared. Even thousands of years ago, Job knew how this worked.

In Job 31, Job takes some time for self-examination. He knew that he hadn’t engaged in the sins of lust, lying, or adultery. But he didn’t look only at his actions; he also looked at what lay behind them.

Job knew that God’s gaze penetrated far deeper than his own. He knew that God saw the thoughts that a man allowed his mind to entertain. He knew the importance of keeping his body away from sexual sin as well as the necessity of not even looking lustfully at a woman other than his wife.

Modern men have even more reason than Job to keep a tight guard on what they allow their eyes to take in. Those who have no interest in pleasing the Lord will say, “Hey, there’s no harm in looking,” but the man committed to God knows better. Every instance of adultery or illicit sexual contact begins with a look not a touch. Follow Job’s advice if you want to keep your body and mind pure: Don’t even look!

It’s a simple equation: God wants to bless you, and the devil wants to steal everything you have. Though it’s nearly impossible in today’s image-driven world to avoid glimpsing scenes that can trip you up sexually, it’s important that you take what precautions you can to keep them as far from eyeshot as possible! A shield that keeps out 95 percent of the arrows is better than no shield at all.