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Lust
of the Eyes
.
Neil T. Anderson
“My prayer is not that you take them out of
the world but that you protect them from the evil one. . . sanctify
them by the truth; your word is truth”.- John 17:15,17
Eve saw that the food was “pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 3:6).
The “lust of the eyes” was the second channel of
temptation through which Satan took advantage.
Eve’s resolve was weakening. It looks good and I want
it. What harm could possibly befall me if I took just one little bite?
“Don’t listen to God,” he
hissed.
“He is just trying to deny you some of life’s great
pleasures. Do what is right in your own eyes. There are no serious consequences
for choices that you make.”
The lust of the eyes subtly draws us away from the Word of
God and eats away at our confidence in Him.
We see what the world has to offer and desire it above our
relationship with God.
We begin to place more credence in our perspective of life
than in God’s plans and promises.
Fueled by the lust for what we see, we grab for all that
we can get.
Tempting lies have not changed since the original sin.
With Eve, Satan questioned the Word of God.
With Jesus, he quoted Scripture, but in a diabolical way. “If
you believe God’s Word is true, prove it. Jump off the Temple wall. God will
save you by sending His angels to bear you up. You won’t even come close to
hitting the rocks below” (see Matthew 4:6).
Had Jesus jumped to His death, everyone’s confidence in
God have been would be shattered.
However, Jesus was not going to be seduced by a passage
taken out of context.
He countered the temptation with a passage of Scripture
that exposed Satan’s ploy: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Deuteronomy 6:16).
That verse follows the Shema (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9),
which is still recited daily by orthodox Jews.
Shema means “to hear so as to obey.”
The righteous live by faith in the written Word of God and
do not demand that God prove Himself in response to our whims or wishes, no
matter how noble we think our cause may be.
God is under no obligation to us — He is under obligation
only to Himself.
Such thinking distorts the meaning of prayer and puts us
in the position of trying to manipulate God.
A beloved man was once dying with cancer.
Word spread throughout his church that four independent
witnesses had all testified that the man was not going to die.
The congregation believed these witnesses had heard from
God and rejoiced. Three weeks, later the man died.
Either those four “witnesses” were paying attention to a
deceiving spirit, or God’s Word can’t be trusted.
Counterfeit gifts of knowledge and prophecy spoken through
false prophets and deceived Christians can destroy our confidence in God.
If they give us a “word from the Lord” and it
doesn’t prove to be true, God can no longer be trusted.
The same thing happens if we pay attention to a deceiving
spirit and think it is from God.
Paul says that we will fall away from the faith if we pay
attention to deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (see 1 Timothy 4:1).
SOME QUESTIONS TO
ASK YOURSELF:
2. How can false prophecies and deceiving spirits undermine
our confidence in God?
3. Are there ways that we can pray and use Scripture in such
a way that God is obligated to respond favorably to us?
4. Have you ever wanted something that looks good and
wondered why God wouldn’t want you to have it? How is rationalizing a sinful
decision questioning God’s Word?
5. Do you believe that universalism, the belief that all will
be saved, questions God’s Word?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He
began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to
this day.
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