ON THE VANGUARD

LUST
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
Colossians 3:5

What first comes to mind when you hear the word ‘lust’? If your past is spotted anything like mine was you probably think of something related to sexual relations. Perhaps you equate it to seeing something you want and have affection for. Sometimes it can be seen within a dating couple where when looking at them you see they are not in love, but rather in lust. But is it valid to say that lust only hides within a relationship? Can we not also lust after money, after position, or after things? I knew of one person in college who admitted to me that she lusted after shoes. Perhaps lust has more to do with things outside of relationships than we think. And perhaps we are lusting after something even now that we would never have thought was lust at all.
In one of his fictional novels, Thom Lemmons writes the following description of lust that I feel is probably the best definition I have seen in quite a while. He writes:

“Sometimes I think lust is the only sin. Lust for a woman will make a man betray his wife, his friend, maybe even his clan. Lust for land will make him lie and murder. Lust for indulgence will make a woman sow cankers in her husband’s soul. Lust for advancement and ease will make a man forget his god. There is a little god in each of our hearts that tells us we ought to have whatever it is we want. The voice of that god is very hard to ignore, even for the most righteous. It is hard to ignore because it is always telling us the thing we most want to hear.”

Look back with me to some stories in the Bible as we think on this quote. In Genesis 34, it was Shechem whose heart was full of lust for Jacob’s daughter, Dinah. His lust for her burned so deep in him that he defiled her (Gen 34:5). Jacob wanted to keep it quiet, but when this truth became known to her brothers, they devised a plan to have all the men in the city circumcised. While still in their pain, the band of brothers attacked Shechem and his men. For Shechem, his lust betrayed his people.
It was King Ahab in I Kings 21 that made an offer on Naboth’s vineyard. When denied the ability to purchase the land, Ahab returned to his kingdom sulking. When Jezebel saw him sullen she questioned what was wrong. Upon hearing of the denial for the vineyard, she devised her own way in how to obtain it. Forging letters in Ahab’s name, she wrote a letter to have Naboth defaced and stoned. The lust in her to obtain this land caused her to murder an innocent man.
On and on we can continue to find stories in the Word that reflect the negative traits of lust. It all starts with a sight. We see something we desire and it begins to become our tunnel vision. But Colossians 3:5 warns us that this desire, this concept of lust, is nothing more than an idol. In fact, the Greek word used by Paul here is PATHOS, meaning depraved or vile passions. It is the same word used in Romans 1:26 to describe that as people began to desire things other than God, God gave them over to their PATHOS. It was never God’s intent that they should make an idol of their affections, but God will not compete with other gods.
If this idea is right, then what is it that you find whispering in your ear? What other god is starting as a lust and working for your affection? It may be the opposite gender, it may be shoes, or money, or land. Whatever it is, the answer is still the same. We must stand against it. We must put the lust to death, like Paul says. I urge you to kill it.