SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 18
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. [Matthew 5:28].
Sex, like fire, is a beautiful gift.
In the fireplace, it provides warmth and comfort.
But outside of healthy boundaries, that is, when it jumps from the fireplace to the curtains, we have disaster.
Sex, like fire, causes a lot of damage when it is taken out of its safe, intended environment.

Sex does not stand alone.
It belongs in the broader context of covenant relationship, with love, trust and fidelity.
To be truly appreciated, it requires a love and respect for one another, one that does not USE the other person as an object but respects and values the person as a person.
The dehumanizing of sex, taking it out of the secure and beautiful context of covenant union, is the destruction of sex, as well as of the persons involved.

Leviticus 18 is not a complete list but gives many examples of destructive, dehumanizing sex.
Having lost our connection to God and each other, we desperately seek joy and love, but we seek it in unhealthy ways.
We turn sex into an idol, an experience from which we hope to derive meaning, joy, fulfillment… but that leaves us unsatisfied.

Jesus wisely teaches us that the examples of sexual immorality are expressions of the inward fire burning out of control.
We have a heart problem, and our society cannot contain the sexual devolution apart from addressing the core issue of sin and godlessness.
But don’t take my word for it, wait and see, and watch what happens.
Time will prove God right after all.

Anyone who denies the dysfunctional nature of sex today is living in denial.
Sexual abuse, bestiality, bondage, homosexuality, pornography, affairs, rape, sex parties, incest, pedophilia, to name a few, are examples of the huge disaster we are facing.
And yet we encourage our children to dress and act sexually, we inundate them with sexual advertising and entertainment, images that agitate them sexually, causing them to act out in violent, inappropriate and harmful ways.
We celebrate our liberation from prudish sexual restraint, yet bemoan the rampant sexual excesses that occur.
Duhhh, think about it, we are reaping what we sow.
You can’t stimulate an inferno, then complain when people get burned.

PRAYER:
Lord, we have a problem. The fire is raging, and many are getting burned. Open our eyes to see our folly, and help us to repent and seek You.