(Thomas Watson, “The Lord’s Prayer“)

If we would be kept from actual sins–let us be careful to avoid all the inlets and occasions of sin.

Do not run into evil company. He who would not catch the plague–must not go into an infected house.

Guard your senses, which may be the inlets to sin. Keep the two portals–the eye and the ear. Especially guard your eyes. Much sin comes in by the eye; the eye is often an inlet to sin; sin takes fire at the eye.

The first sin in the world, began at the eye. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye–she took some and ate it.” Genesis 3:6

Intemperance begins at the eye, “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup. In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper!” Pr. 23:31-32

Covetousness begins at the eye. “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and a wedge of gold, I coveted them and took them.” Joshua 7:21

The fire of lust begins to kindle at the eye. David walking upon the roof of his house, saw a woman washing herself, and she was, says the text, “beautiful to look upon,” and he sent messengers and took her, and defiled himself with her. 2 Samuel 11:2. Looking begat lusting!

Therefore watch your eyes! Job made a covenant with his eyes. Job 31:1. If the eye is once inflamed, it will be hard to stand out long against sin. If the outworks are captured by the enemy, there is great danger of the whole castle being captured!

(Daily Devotional from Grace Gems)

The adage, “the eyes are the windows to the soul” is mostly true, although I would go so far as to call them the doorways to the soul. As Watson points out, sin often begins with what we see and, having seen, our minds take over and lead us into the sins of covetousness and lust. As James says, “¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15, ESV)

The more I become convicted of my own sins, the more I realize the importance of the exhortation to watch my eyes and the more I come to realize that, as Paul says, “¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” (1 Corinthians 10:13a, ESV). In other words, despite the best efforts of the accuser, it is becoming clearer to me that I am not alone in my struggles and that the battle generally is won or lost at the gates (eyes and ears). Once the enemy has advanced past the gates it is easy for spies to hide within the castle and attack when our inner defenses are at their weakest. It is easier to keep the enemy out in the first place than to wage guerrilla warfare within my own borders

So, once our outer defenses have been breached (or, as is more often the case, the gates left wide open and unguarded), is there no hope? Of course there is hope. As Paul goes on to say “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. ¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:13b-14, ESV). God will always be there to help us endure the temptation, but, and this is a very important “but”, we must flee the idols we have built. It does me no good to expect God to deliver me from a sin I am willfully committing. There have been times when I was ready to act in direct opposition to God’s will when He has intervened and saved me, but ,for the most part, once I have turned my back on Him I am on my own. However, if I feel the pull of temptation and turn to God rather than my idols, He is faithful to deliver me safely through.

I have been thinking a lot about sin lately. Specifically I have been thinking a lot about why I sin. I echo Paul’s thoughts in Romans 7:17-19 [ESV] where he laments:

“¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

The Question

Why do I sin? Why is it that I seem to struggle with the same sins over and over and over again? Why is it that, just when I think that I have gained mastery over one of my sins that it comes back and bites me in the tuchus?

The Answer (at least part of it)

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. [Hebrews 3:11-13; ESV]

I live under the sin and curse of unbelief. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in God. I know He’s there and I know that He will do what He says He will do. I know that He is the creator and sustainer of all life and that He sent His son to die and rise so that those who place their trust in him will live forever in heaven. I know all of that and I believe it. In my head. Where I stumble and where the root of all my sin and struggle lies is in my lack of trust in Him.

I find myself sinning for a couple of reasons; one is that I do not believe that God will do as He says, so I try to take matters into my own hands and the other is that I am angry with Him for not doing what I want Him to do so I sin to get back at Him . . . to punish Him. How childish. That is something I would expect from my three-and-a-half year old son, while I should clearly know better. (It amazes me how often I see myself reflected in my son, but that’s a story for another day.)

I know that there are other “causes” for my sin, but I also see that my unbelief is the greatest single contributor to my sinning.

The Resolution

This entry was inspired, in part, by this post by Tim Bayly, Pastor of the church we attend and I think he says it best:

The first step in that battle is to recognize God’s command that we believe, and to pray asking Him to give us what He commands. Remember the father who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus to be healed? When the father approached Jesus, he expressed some hesitancy concerning whether or not Jesus could or would heal his son. Jesus answered him, “All things are possible to him who believes.” The boy’s father then responded with honesty and humility, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)

The temptation in unbelief is to continue in it; to despair in never truly trusting. The good news is that God is faithful to His promises and will reward “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man” [James 5:16b; NKJV]. I know I will continue to struggle with unbelief, along with a host of other sins, but knowing where the battle lies is the first step in fighting it.