Lust is a solitary sin. When you look at pornography, you do so alone. When you act upon your lustful thoughts by pleasuring yourself, you do so in private. The shame and remorse that follow your sin make you feel even more alone, as though there is no one else in the world who struggles with sexual sin the way that you do. But have you considered Job?
Job was a man who lived in the land of Uz around 1520 BC. The book in the Bible named after him tells you that Job was married with 10 children. He was a wealthy man, owning 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large household of servants. Job was so wealthy that the Scriptures describe him as “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3).
Job was also a righteous man. God remarks of him, to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8).
And yet this very same man, who had more wealth than anyone else of his generation, who was holier than any other man on earth, struggled with lust. You discover his struggle in the 31st chapter of Job, where Job declares:
“I have made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a young woman?”
Job 31:1
The word “look” here in the Hebrew carries the idea of gazing with lust. And the phrase “young woman” means a young, female virgin. Job had a sufficient struggle with the sin of gazing lustfully at young, female virgins that he had to do something about it. He made a covenant with his eyes not to.
This should give you great encouragement today. If the man who was farther along in holiness than anyone else in the world still struggled with lust, then you are not alone. And if the man who had everything still coveted that which he should not have, then you are not alone.
Getting what you want in life does not deliver you from temptation. And advancing in holiness does not automatically shield you from lust. Job is proof that your struggle against lustful thoughts and sinful images is something you share with men the world over. The only difference is what you do with your lust.
Job made a covenant with his eyes so that he would not look lustfully at young women. What action will you take today to avoid sexual sin?
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