Last night we went to a party where there was a Persian belly dancer. She cavorted, twisted and tossed about effortlessly moving every muscle in her torso but although my husband was sitting directly in the front of the dance floor, he didn’t once look at her. Afterwards I asked him why.
He replied, “I have the most beautiful woman at my side. Why would I want to look at any other?”
Apart from that being a very good answer that melted my heart, it made me reflect on the man in Proverbs 7. Here was the empty-headed and empty-hearted man who put himself in harm’s way and was beguiled by a lustful woman who promised love. This was no chance meeting. This was a brilliantly conceived plan where sin was enveloped in a deceptive cloak of good-heartedness.
Our Lord reminds us that adultery is an indication of a heart yearning for something that is not yours. Essentially the broken heart is seeking for something to heal itself and instead of turning to God it turns to itself. This could be converted into the longing for money, success, promotion, relationships, status prestige or a host of other desires.
“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt. 5:27-28).
We all have an issue with our heart being attracted to the promises of this world. As C.S. Lewis rightly said,
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”[1]
In contrast to the shallow promises of this world, God has given us promises that last eternity. To grasp hold of those promises we need to be involved in God’s word and actively guard its message in our hearts:
“Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes” (Prov. 7:2).
By being familiar with God’s word and meditating on it we will be transformed. Our immersion in the Word will shield us from all the fiery arrows of the devil (Eph. 6:16).
“You weren't created for boredom or burnout or bondage to sexual lust or greed or ambition but for the incomparable pleasure and matchless joy that knowing Jesus alone can bring. Only then, in Him, will you encounter the life-changing, thirst-quenching, soul-satisfying delight that God, for His glory, created you to experience.”[2]
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All quotations are from the NLT.