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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 6, NUMBER 48, DECEMBER 3,2006 EVERY MAN’S BATTLE Wilson Adams, the editor of Biblical Insights, requested that Vicky and I write an article apiece for a special, upcoming edition of the magazine. The issue will appear in January. My assignment was “Every Man’s Battle” and Vicky’s was “Every Woman’s Battle.” I will be putting both of them in The Northern Kentucky Searcher. Maybe they will help someone here. In Proverbs 7:6-23, we find an account of a young man falling prey to sexual temptation. Solomon wrote, “For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the naïve, I discerned among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing through the street near her corner; and he takes the way to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the middle of the night and in the darkness. And behold, a woman comes to meet him, dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and rebellious; her feet do not remain at home; she in now in the streets, now in the squares, and lurks by every corner. So she seizes him and kisses him, and with a brazen face she says to him: I was due to offer peace offerings; today I have paid my vows. Therefore I have come out to meet you, to seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you. I have spread my couch with coverings, with colored linens of Egypt. I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with caresses. For the man is not at home, he has gone on a long journey; he has taken a bag of money with him, at full moon he will come home. With her many persuasions she entices him; with her flattering lips she seduces him. Suddenly he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool, until an arrow pierces through his liver; as a bird hastens to the snare, so he does not know that it will cost him his life.” This is such a sad story, but one that is played out in so many different ways in the lives of so many different men every day. Sexual temptation is every man’s battle. Not all men are afflicted with sexual temptation to the same degree, and not all will succumb, but every healthy, normal male has a God-given sexual drive that he must learn to control. God’s standard for sexual purity is every clear and is perhaps most simply set forth in Ephesians 5:3, “But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints.” Men receive sexual stimulation visually; we can receive gratification through our eyes. Consequently, the danger is ever present and the need for constant vigilance is paramount. In the account of Proverbs 7, verse 10 indicates that part of what enticed the young man to this woman was the way she was dressed, appealing to his eyes. It calls to mind King David and how he was aroused by gazing upon Bathsheba as she bathed in 2 Samuel 11:2. Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” As men we simply must control our eyes. If we sit down to watch television so many of the commercials are sexually based; automobiles to snack chips are advertised by scantily clad women. This does not even take into account so many of the television shows themselves. Trips to the mall can almost require blinders. Perusal of the magazine rack during a trip to the local drugstore can be a pathway to sin. Sexual temptation seems to be everywhere, just as verse 12 of Proverbs 7 indicated, “She is now in the streets, now in the squares, and lurks by every corner.” As we consider the easy availability of visual sexual gratification, perhaps the most insidious is the Internet. How many men who are Christians are struggling mightily with the temptation to click that mouse in the privacy of their home, or at the office, or in the motel when traveling for business, and pour into their hearts through the portals of their eyes every lascivious, ungodly image of women imaginable? To many the temptation provided through their computers seems almost too much to deal with, but it is not. To sin with our eyes is a choice and none of us have to choose to commit that sin. Job made a statement in Job 31:1 that goes directly to the issue. He wrote, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” Each of us can make a contract with your eyes as well, a contract that says, “I will not give in.” Don’t think that you cannot do it, because you can. I am not saying that it will be easy, but I am saying that one who is determined to live according to God’s pattern, striving to be more like Jesus every day, can do it. The only place where God has permitted man to fulfill his sexual desires is in marriage. Hebrews 13:4 tells us, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Let each man find satisfaction in the arms of his wife, for that is as God designed. Not only is he to receive sexual gratification in marriage, he is to give it as well. Living purely in a world full of sexual stimulation is not always easy, but it can be done. We are responsible for “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). I have found in helpful to drive out each thought when it first appears, refusing to let it linger, and replacing it with what is good. Paul exhorted in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” This is wonderful advice to help every man win this battle – and we must win! Greg Litmer
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