You Shall Not Commit Adultery
You shall not commit adultery. Our series on the Words of Christ continues with the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5. Jesus reminds us that what is considered normal for the people of the world is not normal for believers.
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you;
for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than
for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from
you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish,
than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Matthew 5:27-30, NKJV
You Shall Not Commit Adultery
In today's culture, the words of Christ from Matthew 5 certainly seem rather archaic, do they not? We hardly even think of adultery as a sin! Yet, that is a great shame; the Bible is clear on what God requires of His people. It is one thing to see such rampant sin in the world, but it should never be the norm for the people of God.
Yet, even in the church, we see this sin blatantly displayed in all of
its ugly forms. What has happened to God's church? Jesus got right to
the heart of the matter when He said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." There is the true nature of the problem in our culture today.
How can people not lust after one another when sex is displayed from
every advertisement in magazines and on TV? How can people not lust
after one another when there is rarely a television show or movie where
the actors and actresses are not shown having one affair after another.
Our senses have become so dulled that we are rarely even shocked by what
we see.
As a child, I remember a little chorus we used to sing. One of the verses said,
Be careful little eyes what you see.
Be careful little eyes what you see.
For the Father up above is looking down in love, so
Be careful little eyes what you see.
As adults, we have forgotten the lesson of this song. The reason we see
such rampant sin, even in our churches across the land, is that we, as
believers, have forgotten to guard our hearts. We need to be careful
what we see, what we do, and what we say. Why? We need to be careful
because we understand that the eyes of God are watching!
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
2 Chronicles 16:9, NKJV
In this passage, Asa, the king of Judah, forgot to rely upon God, but rather sought help from the king of Syria. As Christians today, let us remember that God rules over all of this earth, seeing everything we do and say, and understanding even what we think. Let us seek, by the grace of God, to live pure lives before Him, relying upon His strength to enable us to do so.
Therein lies the true help that we believers need so that we will not
fall into the same entanglements that we see in the world. Jesus was
saying, nip the sin while it is still in the budding stage, for then it
will never flower into full blown sin.
Let us pray for purity of lives and hearts before God Almighty and take seriously the command, "Thou shall not commit adultery. The sin
of adultery has infiltrated the hearts and lives of many professing
Christians. Let us repent of our sin, and seek the help of God, for He
alone can keep us from the sins that so easily beset us!
Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery
Devotional Reflections from the Bible
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