It all started with that thing I saw. It was beautiful and it had an immediate effect on me. I wanted to study it closer and to know all about it. It fascinated me and began to consume my thoughts. I wanted it to be mine.
I began to imagine myself as the owner of this fine item. What fun it would be! It would most likely improve my life and other people would definitely be impressed if they saw me using it and enjoying it. With something so impressive and good, how could I not own it?
I began to think of ways to obtain it. Sure it was expensive and not something I necessarily needed but how could I pass this opportunity by and not make it mine? I must think on this and somehow, someway, I will have it…
How does this story end? That depends on the situation and the person. After all, what I have just described is what can happen to anyone who sees something and begins to lust after it. And what happens when lust takes over?
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3) NASB
Although lust is a word we most often associate with sexual desire it can in fact also be a strong, burning desire for any object or thing. It could be a new vehicle, an article of clothing, a shiny piece of technology or anything else that fascinates our mind. And because we are all built differently what might cause me to lust will have no effect on someone else. In other words, it isn’t the object that’s the problem but what we do when we inevitably encounter that temptation.
In the verses above, James describes unbridled lust as a source for war, murder, envy, and fighting. When the desire to have something becomes so strong that we will stop at nothing to get it, anyone or anything that gets in our way will be a target for our wrath. We will wage war against that thing, that person or that circumstance that is stopping us from getting what we want.
That is why it is so important that we not treat temptation lightly. We need to realize that we are all weak to certain desires and do everything in our power to 1)be honest in confessing our weakness to the Lord, 2) avoid and minimize our exposure to those things that tempt us, 3) have good Godly people around us that can hold us accountable and encourage us to make good decisions.
Lust and desire have no power over a born again Christian except that which we give them. Jesus Christ’s work on the cross broke the chains of sin and bondage and we no longer have to be slaves to our wants. If we keep our eyes on Jesus (and not on the shiny, glittery things of this world) and make our relationship with God our highest priority then we won’t be an easy target for temptation.