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Our Honorable Minister of the Gospel through Self Defense – Minister Job from the East, once made this statement as recorded in Scripture: “I made a covenant with mine eyes, why then should I think upon a maid?” – Job 31:1
And I found it rather weird that he made the covenant with his eyes yet it was the mind (thoughts) that he worked on. Shouldn’t the right thing be to make the covenant with his eyes and guard his eyes against looking at a maid/young woman?
Not quite. You see, nothing functions independently, and more often than not, what we see happening in the center stage is controlled at the backstage.
Many plans have foiled and failed because many times we handle the problem at face value rather than going to the root. Job’s case accentuates what Jesus said about lustfully looking at a woman (Matthew 5:28). He knew that if he could guard his heart, his eyes won’t be a problem. If he could guard his heart, he could look at a woman and not feel lewdly towards her. So the mind was what needed policing.
How often we’ve made resolutions only to fail over and again because we snip the buds and never ax the roots. I’ll tell you a story.
The Big Challenge
Once upon a time, before I resigned from living in the fallen Adamic nature, there was a past-time I was a radical professional at something called LYING. For those of us who were top-notch at this game, you know that when we are at a tight corner, we don’t have to think of a lie, it springs out as the occasion demands.
Unfortunately, it made me lose the trust of my parents to the point that every word I said was taken with a pinch of salt. That’s really not the type of life you want to live. Even after the “nature alteration” available only in Christ, I still battled with it and realized that my new nature wasn’t gaining expression because of the lying. I was born-again, but who would believe me? Trying to stop lying consciously wasn’t helping and soon it became a prayer point. It was a huge challenge for me.
How to Stop Lying
One day, the answer came.
“If you want to stop lying, stop stealing”
Ow, I omitted that part. I was an amateur pilferer of baby formula, milk, meat and anything sweet. Children! As an amateur, I was unable to cover the tracks and so it always came out and I would lie, like many children would, to avoid punishments. It was during one of such escapades that the epiphany hit me: “You don’t want to lie, right? Stop stealing!” And that did the trick.
Until you hit the root of the problem, you’ll keep making the same resolutions year after year, birthday after birthday, session after session. Trace the root of that problem, the trigger of that action, and snuff the life out of it. It’s a package fully explorable in Christ as He alone can, not only direct you to the root of the problem, but also give you the strength and wherewithal to overcome them.
STUDY FOCUS: JOB 31:1
Do you hear God speaking to you today through this lesson? Please, leave a comment or question; your comment/question might be a blessing to someone. You could also contact us through our contact page.
STAY BLESSED!
