Jó 31
Kent Hughes · Citado em PreceptAustin
Jó 31:1
Hughes - You may not be able to avoid the first look, but you can avoid the second. Develop the discipline of never taking that second look. Women will know if you do. They know where your eyes go. Develop modest eyes. Jerry Bridges - We need not only a commitment to holiness as a total way of life, but frequently a commitment regarding specific areas of temptation. Job made a personal covenant not to look lustfully at young women (Job 31:1). Daniel resolved not to defile himself with forbidden food, even though from the king’s table (Da 1:8). These two Old Testament saints are commended by God Himself as among the most righteous who ever lived (Ezekiel 14:14); yet both found it necessary to make a commitment regarding some specific area of temptation. Job found his temptation in his own breast; Daniel found his in his particular circumstances. Both responded with a commitment to obey God. They lived up to their convictions. A lustful look quickly becomes an impure thought. If acts of immorality are becoming a problem among Christians, the thoughts of immorality are a much greater problem. Sexual lust lies latent in the heart of every Christian. Even righteous Job found it necessary to deal decisively with this temptation; he made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a girl (Job 31:1). If Job found it necessary to make this kind of commitment in the day in which he lived, how much more do we need it in today’s society—where sexual lust is exploited even to advertise spark plugs! Job was acknowledged by God Himself as a man who was “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). Yet Job found it helpful to single out this specific area of temptation and make a commitment regarding it! Henry
Jó 31:1
Hughes - Of course, this great principle of mortification has universal application to all areas of life, but here Jesus specifically applies it to sensuality. So we will do the same. If the application seems negative, so be it, for the ultimate result is positive. Jesus tells us there must be a mortification of the eyes, that we must control our eyes. This advice may be more needful for men than women because they are more apt to be visually stimulated, but it does apply to both. In simplest terms, this forbids a second look. At the risk of sounding super-pious and goody-goody, I have tried to make this one of the canons of my own life. A godly man (one who is trying to be so) must not take a second look. When talking with the opposite sex, one should always maintain eye contact. Wandering eyes are sensual eyes and ultimately adulterous eyes. Job’s reflections in chapter 31 of his book contain lifesaving wisdom (Job 31:1) A wise man or woman will make a covenant with his or her eyes as to what they will look upon. Certainly this involves television and movies. There is probably no area in which Christians fail more than in what they allow to enter their minds through the media. There are times when we need to walk away from the screen. There are times to turn the dial. We are easily desensitized, and those impure things at which we laugh do not seem so bad the next time, and the last laugh will be on us. Certainly this also applies to books, magazines, and newspapers. We need to make a covenant with our eyes. We need to take extreme measures if necessary. Am I suggesting a new legalism with a list of yeses and nos? In no way! Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to sin …” Not anyone else’s eye, but your eye. We are all different. We stumble over different things. One thing may arouse one and leave another unmoved. One must cut something out, but another may be under no such obligation… we must recognize the absolute necessity of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We cannot mortify our flesh alone. Willpower will not do it! Paul is careful to tell us, “but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). Likewise, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you” (Philippians 2:12, 13). We can do this only by the power of Jesus. We live in an age of extreme sensuality. Many say (and I think they are right) that never in the history of the western world, since the time of Greek and Roman paganism, has the state of marriage and sexual morality been so low. And even more tragic, immorality has invaded the church at every level, from teenage to mid-life, so that no age group is untouched. Moreover, the havoc this has wrought goes far beyond the relational horrors of divorce, illegitimacy, and abortion to the very perversion of faith. I know of one former church leader and theologian who after continuous adultery and finally dissolution of his marriage began to discard the essentials of his Christian faith. Why? When one’s willful conduct contradicts one’s theology, either the conduct or the theology must change. We must understand that much of the heresy we observe today has roots that are moral rather than intellectual. Therefore we must realize that what people do with their eyes and limbs can affect the eternal destiny of their souls. (The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom) Rob
Jó 31:1
Hughes comments - Proverbs 6:27 says, “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?” Many Christians are daily heaping fire onto themselves and are being profoundly scarred. We need to be like Job, who said, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl” (Job 31:1). We need to apply this across the board. There are books and magazines we must discard. Some of us need to toss out TVs. I am not endorsing any type of legalism, but God’s Word speaks today, and we are to kill the members of our body which lead us into sensuality or promote covetousness, which our text calls “greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians and Philemon: the supremacy of Christ) Kent Hughes - Men and young men, guard your eyes and your hearts. Job’s wisdom will stand you well: “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). You may not be able to avoid the first look, but you can avoid the second. Develop the discipline of never taking that second look. Women will know if you do. They know where your eyes go. Develop modest eyes. The culture of modesty—the culture of respect. Holy eyes and holy hearts. These are the souls that God is pleased to use to spread the Good News… We are called as a church to create a culture that nurtures purity. We must carefully guard our hearts. Here is Job’s wisdom: “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). (Set apart: calling a worldly church to a godly life) John Armstrong - I urge pastors to consider an ‘eye covenant’ (Job 31:1) to protect themselves from sexual impurity (Ed: I agree with Armstrong, but submit that this covenant MUST be enabled by the Spirit and sustained by the Spirit - cp Ro 8:13. Making a covenant in our own strength is tantamount to placing one's self up under the law and simply cannot be kept! cp John 6:63).. Keep your eyes from wandering to images and even to dwelling on passing women that can entice you with fantasies. As Alcorn notes, ‘A battering ram may hit a fortress a thousand times, and no one time seems to have an effect, yet finally the gate caves in.’ For most men, our thoughts are readily influenced by images, for we are visually oriented. When our thoughts are assailed visually time after time, we are more vulnerable, for ‘immorality is the cumulative product of small mental indulgences and minuscule compromises, the immediate consequences of which were, at the time, indiscernible,’ according to Alcorn. ‘Our thoughts are the fabric with which we weave our character and destiny.’ (The Stain that Stays: The Church's Response to Sexual Misconduct of Its Leaders) The thoughts of our heart are the real litmus test of our character John