I MADE A COVENANT WITH MY EYES NOT TO LOOK LUSTFULLY AT A
GIRL: "The American male is led to believe that 'girl-watching' is just part
of being a man. A lot of girls are all too aware that they are being watched --
and they're not all happy about how they're being watched. Like the young woman
my wife and I saw recently at a festival. She was wearing a shirt with an arrow
on the front that pointed up to her head. The shirt said just three little words
by the arrow: 'I'm up here!'
"That teenage girl was sending a much-needed message: 'Keep
your eyes where they belong! I'm a person, not a body, thank you!' It's actually
a message the Creator of women would more than agree with. A woman may be
depersonalized, sexualized, trivialized by the way men look at her -- and she's
the creation of a holy God; a Father in heaven. And you know how fierce a father
is about protecting his daughter!
"Job -- the man whose integrity God acclaimed -- understood
that how a man looks at a woman is an important part of his integrity. And it
matters to God. Job said, 'I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully
at a girl.' That's a covenant every man should make -- especially if he belongs
to Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God.
"Today, the Biblical commandment to 'flee the evil desires of
youth' (2Ti 2:22) is as hard to obey as it's ever been. Advertising, fashions,
television, movies almost program a man to look at a woman sexually; focusing
attention on that which is intended by God for only the man she's married to.
But the fact that it's hard to have righteous eyes doesn't make it any less
God's imperative.
"Men in Jesus' day -- even the very religious -- apparently
thought they were doing okay if they didn't DO something immoral with a woman.
Then Jesus introduced the radical idea that you can sin sexually without ever
touching a woman -- just by the way you look at her. He said, 'You have heard
that it was said, "Do not commit adultery." But I tell you that anyone who looks
at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' That
makes far more of us men adulterers than we believed -- men in need of the
forgiving and cleansing of Jesus the Savior.
"Unfortunately, too many women -- including Christian women --
have bought into a fashion culture that actually entices men to focus on a
woman's body. God clearly commands women: 'Your beauty should not come from
outward adornment... instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading
beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit' (1Pe 3:3,4). Many a woman who's disgusted
with being looked at as a sex object is actually dressing in a way that
encourages it.
"We men who want 'pure eyes' need the help of our spiritual
sisters -- if what you're wearing is too short, too tight, too low, or not
enough, you become part of the problem instead of part of the answer. And
remember what every fisherman knows -- the bait determines the catch! Offer
physical bait and you'll end up with men who only care about that, not men who
care about you.
"Both men and women have fallen for a casualness about sex
that robs it of its God-given beauty. Like snow, it's beautiful when it's fresh
and clean, but it's ugly when it's trampled and soiled. Godly men, make that
covenant with your eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. Godly women, dress for
respect, not attention -- like the temple of God that you are" (Ron
Hutchcraft).
Job 31:26
SUN... MOON: Referred to here as poss objects of
worship.
Job 31:27
MY HAND OFFERED THEM A KISS OF HOMAGE: Lit, "my mouth
hath kissed my hand" -- in assent to this sinful impulse, or (since kissing a
god was a common act of worship (1Ki 19:18; Hos 13:2) in "throwing" a
kiss!
Job 31:33
I HAVE CONCEALED MY SIN AS MEN DO: Or (NIV mg) "as Adam
did" -- with ref to Gen 3:7,8: "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and
they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made
coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD
God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from
the LORD God among the trees of the garden." It appears that Job was familiar
with the Creation narrative in Genesis.