PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 5:27-30
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“For your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:30)
Jesus challenges (with extreme language) the casual way that people treat sex.
Sex is a precious gift meant to be enjoyed within a relationship of faithful love.
Like fire, it is best enjoyed when it is burning safely within the fireplace.
But beware when the sparks jump out of the fireplace, your house will burn down.
Adultery is any sexual activity that violates the bounds of covenantal faithful love.
It uses and abuses the other person like fire burns wood, then leaves a pile of ash.
People see God’s idea of the marriage covenant as old-fashioned and restrictive.
But look around, how liberating and life-giving is our marriage-free sexual activity?
Victims of sexual use and abuse abound, and there is so much pain and loneliness.
Sex is a beautiful gift, but it needs to be protected with love and faithfulness.
Gehenna (hell) was a dump near Jerusalem; bodies of criminals were cast there.
Don’t throw away your life and happiness by using and abusing others sexually.
Don’t even feed the fires of lust with your mind (pornography), you will get burned!
Today we need to heed Jesus’s warning; too many hearts are going up in flames.
PRAYER
Lord, there are so many victims of sexual use and abuse. Help me not to feed the flame with my own careless sparks of lust. For the sake of sexual victims everywhere, help me keep the flames in the fireplace!
“anyone who looks at a woman lustfully” – keeping my thoughts pure and right – that is the challenge that I must face daily. It is where I am vulnerable (the embers that can cause fire) and Jesus teaches that I must act to mitigate – to stop such wrong thinking and instead appreciate beauty for what God meant it to be – not to try to possess or entertain my thoughts but instead to give praise to the Creator who made all things well. HS continue to remind me and to prod me when my thoughts go the wrong way!