Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8
If you are a Christian man, or any man for that matter, who struggles with the sin of looking at pornography, you likely fight your battle online. Most porn these days is found on websites, on apps, in discussion forums, and in other places on the internet. To stay clear of porn, you likely guard your steps online. You try to avoid going online to sin. But one thing to remember about lust is that it can strike you offline, too.
The Devil, as far as I know, has no preference when it comes to tempting you and me to fall to sexual sin. He is a multichannel menace. I learned this firsthand yesterday while shopping. I was standing in the checkout line at Bulk Barn (a local bulk retailer), a bag of wine gums in hand, minding my own business, when I noticed a vision of loveliness standing in front of me. I knew better than to gawk. I knew better than to stand there, lusting. But I still took a second glance, and lingered longer than I should. She left the store, and so did I. But I then spent the entire day defeated, mad at myself for having looked when I should have looked away. I spent the day asking God to forgive me.
What I saw in the lineup was not pornographic, but it did tempt me to go home and look at things that are pornographic (I didn’t, by the way). The person standing in line was innocent, but I let the sight of her stir up desires in me that were far from innocent. So, here I am the next day, telling you about it. I am today’s object lesson. I learned yesterday to take heed to what Peter warns me to do, namely, to be vigilant while out and about. Why? Because I have an adversary. He is not the adversary. He is my adversary. And my adversary goes where I go. If I walk through the doors of the Bulk Barn, I should expect my adversary to walk in with me. If I stand in line to buy something, I should expect my adversary to put a flesh-and-blood sexual temptation right there in front of me, uninvited, in broad daylight. His purpose in doing so? My destruction.
Peter warns me to be vigilant where my adversary is concerned. I am literally to “stay awake.” I am to be alert, watchful, so that I see my adversary when he comes. The key lesson I learned yesterday is that I have an offline enemy who has legs. He follows me. I have my electronic devices (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone) locked down against pornography. I can’t visit pornographic sites, and any time I view something online that’s inappropriate, my accountability partner finds out. So, tempting me online is not that effective. But offline is another matter. I have to be vigilant when I am out and about. My adversary can tempt me sexually while I’m standing in line to buy wine gums. Now I know. For next time.
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