"The knowledge of Christ's love for us should cause us to love Him in such away that it is demonstrated in our attitude, conduct, and commitment to serve God. Spiritual maturity is marked by spiritual knowledge being put into action." (Edward Bedore)
Why is it that people stranded at sea suffer from dehydration when they are surrounded by an ocean of water? The reason is that sea water contains seven times more salt than the human body can safely ingest. By drinking water from the ocean, a person dehydrates because the kidneys demand extra water to flush the overload of salt. The more salt-water one consumes, the thirstier he or she becomes. Salt-water consumption causes an individual to actually die of thirst.
Attempting to satisfy our need for intimacy with lust is like drinking sea water to quench thirst. Lust is very deceptive because it resembles a God given natural desire for something we want, desire and need. True love bonds for a lifetime; it never dies, lust fades away with each passing moment (Alicia Barnahart). Sexual passion is like a mirage of cool water appearing to a thirsty person in a steaming desert. This unfulfilled yearning for intimacy in our lives creates an illusion in our mind, causing us to drink from what we perceive to be a fountain of cool spring water, in reality its simply a hallucination. The more we lust the more we crave love and more unsatisfied we become. When our need for intimacy has been neglected it often turns into some form of insidious behavior. Some become promiscuous; others turn to homosexuality, some turn to pornography, drugs, crime, alcoholism, and violence. Many promiscuous persons, whether heterosexual or homosexual, are simply attempting to fill a need in their life for love and acceptance through sex. Lust is the craving for salt of a man who is dying of thirst (FrederickBuechner). Lust always fails.
We have ignored our basic need of love, pushing it into the shadows of our daily existence, in an effort to devote the majority of our energies pursuing things we think will make us happy. Society drives people crazy with lust and calls it advertising (John Lahr). In the search for power and a better way of life we must not lose sight of this crucial fact; there is no difficulty that love will not conquer, no disease that love will not heal and no sin that love will not forgive. The Bible says in Proverbs 10:12, "Hatred stirs upstrife, but love covers all sins." It makes no difference how deeply seated the trouble or how great the mistake; there is no problem to big for love. Drugs, psychiatrists, treatment programs, knowledge,sexual experiences can not take the place of love and morality in our lives. "Love recieved and love given comprise the best form of therapy." (Gordon William) "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him." (1 John 4:9 NIV )
www.ClearVisionBibleStudies.Com
|
