OVERCOME THE LUST OF THE EYES

“Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure” – Ecclesiastes 2:10a

It takes deliberate observance and active obedience to the Word of God to OVERCOME THE LUST of the EYES: “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure” (Eccl.10a). King Solomon was narrating his days of vanity and total abandonment to and imprisonment by worldliness. He hinted on his entrapment by fleshly lust in his pursuit of pleasure: “I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure…I searched in my heart how to GRATIFY my FLESH with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom…” (vv.1,3). Solomon then described his accumulation of possessions (vv.4-8).

We’ve noted that worldliness is anything that draws our hearts away from God. This could be in the form of fleshly desires (lust of the flesh), desire for things we see (lust of the eyes), and the boastful pride of life. In 1 John 2:15, the word translated “lust” means “inordinate desire,” which includes but is not limited to sexual lust. The root meaning of the word in Greek is “to be hot after something” or to have an intense desire for some particular things. It’s not simply a preference, but a deep-desire for something – desiring it above everything else.

Desires are legitimate. The existence of a desire indicates that God Himself created it. He couldn’t have put an appetite or desire in us to go unmet or to be wasted on the passing things of the world. He must have created it to fill it with Himself. By creating us with desire, God gave us the capacity to really experience Him and find the deepest satisfaction of our lives. However, the lust of the eyes are evil desires stirred by the things that we see and covet. In Scripture, the eyes are the primary organ of perception and often the principal avenue of temptation, as shown in the case of David who saw Bathsheba, lusted after her, committed adultery with her, thereafter leading to murder (2Samuel 11).

David might have escaped temptation if he had read and practiced Job 31:1: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (NIV). As in the case of “lust of the flesh,” sexual lust is only a fraction of the lust of the eyes. In Matthew 6:22-23, Jesus asserts that the eye is the lamp of the body; “…If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Our eyes are closely related to our hearts! The Psalmist says of the arrogant: “Their eye bulges with fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot” (Psa.73:7, NASB).

Beyond sexual passions, the “lust of the eyes” also describes someone who is captivated by an outward show of materialism. He sees a new car; he must have it. She sees a dress; she must have it. A position opens; he must grab it. Cars, dresses, or positions are not in and of themselves sinful. But the undue desire to have all we see is sinful. Any inordinate desire to have anything contrary to God’s Will is sinful.

Satan tempted Jesus with lust of the eyes: “The devil led, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give to You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours” (Lk.4:5-7). Jesus overcame by the Word: “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Lk.4:8). Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:13. We also must always have God’s Words in our hearts and mouths to overcome the lust of the eyes!