Ephesians 4:17-19: So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
I want to focus this week on the last phrase in this passage, which says with a continual lust for more.
Sensuality never finds true satisfaction. Sensuality always lusts for more.
The word lust is often used in a sexual context. To me lust is any craving, appetite or desire which is out of control. Sexual lust is a major problem in our society, but lust prevails in many other areas of life.
Some lust for money. Money is not the root of all evil, but it is the love of money, or lusting for money that is the root of all evil. (See I Timothy 6:10) It is acceptable and good to desire money and nice material things, when those desires are submitted to God, and you have chosen to live your life according to the principles of the Word of God.
Some lust for power. They desire to rule over others and to dominate others. Man was created to have dominion over the earth, not over other people. Man was created to worship God and to serve others. Some are called to serve by ruling, but they rule with the spirit of a servant under God's authority.
Notice how sin perverts God's plan of dominion. Instead of exercising dominion over the earth, some want to dominate and manipulate other people. Then, these same people allow themselves to be dominated by the elements of the earth in the form of bondage to alcohol, drugs or food.
Some people lust for comfort. They may live decent, moral lives, but they want to be comfortable. They do not want to be inconvenienced with the problems or cares of others.
Then others lust for the pleasure they experience through alcohol or drugs. "Feeling good" becomes their god.
Then, there is sexual lust, which manifests itself in a plethora of avenues. Some may never commit an act of fornication or adultery, yet their thought lives are controlled by sexual fantasy. Some, who are married, are caught up in an emotional affair, which sucks the life out of their marriage. Others are involved in the acts of illicit sexual expression. Addiction to pornography has reached epidemic proportions. Homosexuality is attempting to become the spirit of this age. Some children are sexually abused, often by their own family members.
Lust occurs when you allow anything in your thinking to supersede the boundaries that God has set in his Word.
Paul said in Philippians 2:11, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
Obedience to God produces peace and contentment. Lust produces the desire for more and more. The lust for money never has enough money. Someone, who lusts for money, could become a billionaire, but it is never enough. Someone, who lusts for power, is always scheming to conquer new kingdoms, and bring more under his sphere of rule. Someone, who lusts for illicit sex, wants more sex, more partners, wilder sex. A man addicted to pornography cannot be satisfied with simple nudity. He wants pictures of acts that are increasingly bizarre and perverted.
Lust is a bottomless pit. Lust pulls you deeper and deeper into the mire, and you never land on a solid foundation, because lust can never satisfy.
When you truly lust for something, that "thing" has become an idol in your life. You have elevated something in your life to a higher place than Almighty God.
What is the answer to lust? I think one of the finest discussions of this issue is found in James 4:1-10. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something, but you don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why the Scripture says: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Every desire must be submitted to the rulership of God in your life. Submit to God. Resist the devil. Come near to God. Wash your hands. Purify your heart. Repent with grieving, mourning and wailing. Humble yourself before the Lord. Then.....God will lift you up.
God wants the best for you. God wants to lift you up. God wants to satisfy you and bring true contentment to you. Lust will never satisfy you, but God's purpose and plan for your life will bring true satisfaction and contentment.
David stated in Psalm 37:4, Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. As you submit to God and delight yourself in him, God will not only fulfill your desires, he will give you the proper desires. Allowing God to work his desires in your heart will bring true peace and satisfaction.
While multitudes of Christians are captivated by various forms of lust, you can choose to live in true freedom and satisfaction. You can enjoy the peace, the contentment and the satisfaction that only God can bring.
Your choices are the bottomless pit of lust, or the solid rock of contentment and peace in Jesus Christ.
Choose Jesus!!
Wayne L. Williams
wayne@fotwm.org