Will we feast, or be led to the slaughter? 

As we enter into Spring and Summer, many of us men who have blood still flowing through our veins will face the prospect of women wearing increasingly revealing clothes that might distract our eyes away from our intended purpose. And I’m sure the same can be said for women,  but as a man,  I can only speak from my own perspective.

I bring this up because Jesus Christ taught:

What a fallen and adulterous world we live in. We live in a world that glorifies promiscuity and sexual immorality on television constantly – selling us the idea that this idea of “free love”, an idea that trading in a true, committed love for the sensuality of many lists “won’t kill you”. The enemy is still selling the same old enticing lies that he told to Eve, and so many are still biting into the forbidden fruit all over again. 

So what do we do to resist the temptation that lies all about in front of our eyes,  assaulting our ears, right at the ends of our finger tips, within grasp of our mouse clicks and distracted gaze?

Let’s see what some key verses in Proverbs 7 has for us this morning:

Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman. 

I saw some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense. He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house. It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell. The woman approached him, seductively dressed and sly of heart. She was the brash, rebellious type, never content to stay at home. So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life. 

So listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words. Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path. For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims. Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death.

Proverbs 7:1‭-‬2‭, ‬5‭, ‬7‭-‬11‭, ‬21‭-‬27 NLT

If you are foolish enough to read all of this and say, “But I’ve accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, and I’ve been baptized,  and I go to church, so my sin doesn’t matter anymore. That’s all old testament stuff.” I’d like to remind you that the New Testament tells us multiple times that we must not let sin rule over us, and that someone still ruled by sin is proving they are a slave to their true master, no matter how they cry out, “Lord, Lord”. And it tells us multiple times that people living sexually immoral lives shall NOT inherit the kingdom of God.

So I encourage you to repent,  to set your eyes and your thoughts upon what is good  and perfect, and seek the holy life of walking In Christ as a born again Child of God. Do not settle for the trap of what you think might be acceptable and forgivable, because you know that it isn’t profitable for God’s Kingdom,  and because you know that it is sin. 

Does it seem burdensome for you to have to give up your sinful ways and serve the Lord? Then you should at least be honest with yourself about who it is you have chosen in your heart to serve. You should at least ask yourself whether or not you truly believe not only “ABOUT Jesus Christ crucified and risen” but if you believe the very teaching that His resurrection verified and validated as being the Word of God.

I encourage all of us to turn away from the wield today and turn to God, to His way, truth, and life, to accept the Word of God as our authority,  to submit to God, to decide to follow Him, to lay down our old lives of sin and to walk in a new way. We are not to be those giving empty lip service to God. We are not to be the hypocrites,  but the student followers of the suffering servant who proved Himself King of Kings. We are not to live powerless against sin and temptation, but to live our lives as a living testimony of victory over evil as we resist and it flees from us – as we shine light on sin and death, crying out from the watchtowers both, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (so that captives hear and know that it is time to awaken and be set free) — and,  “I bring Good News of Christ, dead,  buried,  and raised to life, victorious over death and sin as the first of many who will believe and receive life themselves!” (So that many might believe and be changed by the breath of new life).

Don’t just hear the cries and remain dead bones in the grave of your fallen life. Believe and live. Receive the breath of life. Stand and walk in a new way. See your chains have fallen away, the ground is shaken and the prison walls have crumbled. You are prisoner no more if you will come back to your Father’s house,  children of God.

Those who have ears to hear, listen to the celebration meal that has been laid before you. Amen.