Purify Your Mind Series (Part 3) by Joe KirbyNäide

Pampering Pleasure

"I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon." (Proverbs 7:16–17)

A friend of mine once said to me, “The problem with sin is that it’s so pleasurable.” The Bible does not hide this; here in the above two verses, Solomon describes the enticement to sexual sin. This adulterous hostess has prepared a luxurious room for the two immoral lovers to enjoy. You can see the exotic artistry and smell the foreign aromas that engage all the senses. Our world is full of this today, this deception that sexual sin is a rich lifestyle, that immorality is “high living,” and that those who are not promiscuous are boringly irrelevant in our culture. We see this in advertising, in the shopping malls, and on social media: the life of lust is portrayed as unending luxury and elegance. Note again how the hostess in this verse captures the imagination, making this forbidden fruit an exciting experience that draws the sinner into a vortex of lust.

Pornography has transformed from still images in magazines to video, with every kind of fetish for every kind of perversity. Do not be deceived by the illusion of luxury; the same Solomon warned us that those who love pleasure will be poor (Prov. 21:17). Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but if you look at the vast majority of those who indulge their carnal desires, they are the same people who walk a difficult road. Even if they are rich materially, they are poor spiritually—and I know which treasure I would prefer!

The sinner who is submerged in the filth of sexual sin should be no more content in it than a man would be content while submerged in a sewer. Any sane person would scream, “Pull me out of this filth!” My prayer for you is that you would see through the mirage of luxury and be repulsed by all sexual sin.