Unreligious: Week 3 - Day 4
OPENING PRAYER:
Dear Lord, we depend on you. Please purify our hearts so we can see our fellow brothers and sisters as you see them.
“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
REFLECT:
I started playing golf when I was quite young, liked it, and soon after began to play competitively. As a competitor, I was always looking for ways to improve. One area that proved to be very important was being aware of what I was thinking about on the golf course; what I was focused on when I prepared to hit a shot. Something I discovered was how important it was to focus on where I wanted to hit the golf ball. What I focused on is where my golf ball tended to go, whether it was the fairway or the lake.
Similar to how thinking about the lake can lead to a golf ball finding the lake, lust, while “just thoughts,” can take us places we shouldn’t go. Jesus is very clear that lustful thinking is no different than actually engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage. He knows that if we indulge in “just thoughts,” that those thoughts may take us deeper into sin. Thankfully, God loves us and yearns for us to pursue his help in all things, lust included. We can seek his forgiveness for these thoughts, and ask that he direct them towards something pleasing to him.
APPLY:
Is lustful thinking a part of your story? Try as you might, lustful thoughts remain? If so, don’t just ask God to take them away, rather, ask him to focus your thinking towards something specific, something that glorifies him.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Thank you, Jesus, for being all knowing, all understanding and all loving. Thank you for being willing and able to clean up even the darkest hearts within us.