We’ve been studying from Proverbs 7:6-27. We’ve seen that it is dangerous to be simple and without strong conviction in God’s word. We also saw much earlier that to depend on humans for love and affirmation puts us in a place where we can be easily tempted with fake love and admiration. We are to instead trust in God’s love for us, believing His word is His perfect will for us. Today we look at another way by which the gentleman was lured to walk the way to hell. The Bible describes the woman thus,
Her house is the way to hell,
Descending to the chambers of death. (Prov. 7:27)
The writer did explain that the young guy was victimized and led to hell for lack of understanding. After the sweet words of the woman, he followed her like an ox going to be slaughtered. He was charmed by the beauty of the woman and her promise of pleasure. I believe part of the charm was to give him an imagination.
It is what the enemy still does today. He gives you an imagination to keep your mind busy. And while you focus on those images in your head, you are led and you are charmed. You do not want to go to the place, but because your mind went ahead to the place and is actually still in that place, your body joins foolishly and powerlessly.
To defeat sexual temptations therefore, we must learn to do this.
“Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5)
We must cast down arguments and imaginations, thinking and judgement that oppose God. We must bring our thoughts into captivity to obeying Christ. That’s the two parts of the verse above. Cast down arguments and bring thoughts captive. You don’t merely cast down or clear out profane images from your head. To have sustainable victory, you should now bring your thoughts into captivity with Christ. This means you keep your mind stayed on Him. No one ever sinned looking at Jesus. When we lock our look on Him, we are changed from glory to glory more and more into His likeness. We lay aside every sin and weight that entangles us. Be a Christ captive in your thoughts. I mean, keep your mind stayed on Him. And He shall keep you in peace.
We usually think of “Fleeing” as meaning physically escaping or avoiding the opposite sex. But it goes beyond what Joseph did with Potiphar’s wife. It includes a mental “fleeing”. Don’t be like the simple youth whose imaginations were captured with these words;
“I have spread my bed with tapestry,
Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.
I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.” (Prov. 7:16-18)
You should flee first in your mind, before you can flee with your legs. Flee thoughts that draw you into sexual temptations. The Bible is clear, you will be what you think. And you are what is in your heart. So sexual purity begins in the mind and not the body.
Flee from imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God in you, and hold your thinking captive to obeying Christ. Demand that you mind obeys Christ in how it thinks. Don’t think because no one heard and saw your thoughts, it’s no sin. Personally, I do this by deleting the thought from time and memory. I just declare it.
Written for the Sex Conference
Pious D. Serwonu