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(1) Job understood these things 3,600 years ago. Man’s nature hasn’t changed since Adam’s fall. Saints of every era have had to learn to have victory in a fallen world. Sexual temptations are more omnipresent today, but they have always been a problem for God’s people.
(2) Job was an older man with grown children, yet he still had to deal with temptation and pursue moral victory day-by-day.
(3) Job made this a priority in his life. He mentioned it in his conversation with his friends, because it is a major issue.
(4) Job understood that his eyes and mind are not his own. They are made by God and belong to God, and every individual will give account to God for their use.
(5) Job guarded his eyes. It is impossible for the thoughts to be pure if the eyes are not guarded. The man must take care that he does not look at women in a lustful way. No one can do this for me and victory is impossible without it. There is no anti-fat pill that works apart from diet and exercise, and there is no anti-lust pill that works without guarding what you look at. Job isn’t referring to merely noticing a maid; he is referring to starring at a maid for the wrong purpose. “Think upon” is biyn, “to pay attention to, to consider diligently, to look well to” (Complete Word Study Bible). “Job used here the hithpolel of bin (‘to give full attention to’)” (Expository Bible Commentary). This means that I will not look at wrong things on television, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube. I will not look at wrong things in video games. I will not look at pornography, whether “hard” or “soft.” I will not look at dancing girls and beach party girls. I will not look at wrong pictures in covers. I will not look at the indecently clad women of Hollywood and Bollywood and the fashion industry, the rock & rollers and hip-hoppers, and the indecently clad women parading in the public today. When at all possible, I will avoid places of particular temptation such as pools, beaches, and gyms.
(6) Job guarded his thoughts. Guarding one’s eyes is not enough. Job refused to think upon a maid in an improper way. Controlling one’s thought life is the heart of this issue. Job monitored his thoughts and tested them by righteousness. When the temptation comes to ponder a maid in a wrong way, I must reject it. If I entertain wrong thoughts, I will sin in heart and possibly in body.
(7) Job communed with himself about this matter. He communed with himself about his eyes. He made a covenant with himself.
(8) Job made this be a daily, ongoing thing. It is not something that can be done once or twice. There is no experience that will place me above temptations and the necessity of making right decisions. There is no shortcut to spiritual and moral victory. (9) This is a good way to start the day. When I dedicate my day to the Lord and put it into His hands, that is a good time to make a covenant with my eyes and mind on this matter. It puts me into a right mind-set to be on the outlook for temptations and to be prepared to deal with them according to God’s Word. It puts me into a soldiering mode.
For more on this we recommend THE PORNOGRAPHIC AGE AND VICTORY IN CHRIST, which is available in the Courses section of www.wayoflife.org.
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