No Lusty Stallions

Jeremiah 5:8  “They are well-fed, lusty stallions; each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.  (NIV)

In Jeremiah’s day, the people were well-off.  They had plenty of wealth and security.  They looked at their lives and decided, “I’ve arrived.”  But they were consumed with ME-FIRST lifestyles.  ME-FIRST parents were raising ME-FIRST kids with ME-FIRST grandparents smiling and nodding.  But because their hearts were consumed with ME-FIRST, there wasn’t any room for God.

From God’s view, the people weren’t so well-off.  They were spiritual skeletons.  Unfortunately their addiction to ME-FIRST led to entitlement.  Their sexual appetites were never satisfied, and they knew no boundaries.  The prophet Jeremiah gets to the point when he declares, “They are well-fed, lusty stallions; each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.

Was this a problem relegated to Jeremiah’s time?  Or is this also an accurate description of Americans in 2017?  Recent statistics show that one in five of every search done on a mobile device is for porn.  A quarter of a billion people are expected to be accessing adult content on their mobile devices in 2017, a 30% increase from 2013.  “But everyone else is doing it” wasn’t a good excuse then, and it’s not a good excuse now.

Repentance was needed in Jeremiah’s day.  Repentance is needed in our day.  Live under this thick boundary: everyone, besides your spouse, is off-limits to you.  It doesn’t matter if you meet them in person or on a screen.  They do not exist for your sexual appetite.  Their body does not belong to you.  It belongs to God alone, and to their spouse, (or their future spouse).  So set your minds on things above.  Be brave to live in a way that’s different from the rest of the world.  Honor God’s gift of sex and marriage in the way that he intended.  No more lusty stallions!

Prayer:  Gracious God, I don’t want to enjoy sexual lust and all the sins it can cause.  Lead me to repent of my sinful thoughts, words and actions.  Give me the sturdiness that can only come from your Word.  Fill my mind instead with what is true, noble, holy and right.  Amen.