It was Job who over 4000 years ago said, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1). This covenantal vow he made with his eyes certainly deserves the status of a timeless maxim that serves to admonish every generation subsequent to his own, especially to those of us who live in these perilous days. For, we are living in a generation that glorifies, justifies and promotes indecency, obscenity and lewdness in almost every facet of our culture. We are being constantly bombarded with besetting temptations of “the lust of the eyes”, (1 Jn 2:15,16) and “appearance of evil” (1 Thess 5:22) which God commands His people to disengage and abstain from. However, the crucial problem is that the standard of decency and modesty in our societies has degenerated sharply in the last 30 years heading towards that of infamous Sodom and Gomorrah of Lot’s days. What can Christians do in order to protect and keep themselves pure and holy ready for their Master’s use? The only solution is to make a covenant with their eyes.

Studies show that displaying sexually provocative billboards or posters can actually boast up to 40-50% more attention of the viewers than those conventional advertisements. Since the late 1960s, commercial industries all around the world have heeded the advice of the behavioural scientists in adopting sexually provocative advertisements in order to draw more attention from shoppers and commuters in the streets – and it works! No wonder our shopping malls, the busiest streets, public squares and bus stops are webbed with numerous sexually provocative ads from mobile phone, cosmetic ware, fashion, tobacco and consumer electronic industries often featuring female models who are loosely adorned or wearing literally next to nothing.

The world is already accustomed to a mediocre standard of decency and modesty in the culture. Yet, God’s people should not be callous  of the immorality and indecency that are being promoted as our mainstream culture. God commanded His people to be “sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8). Thus, there is a urgent need for Christians to rise up and defend themselves from the fiery darts of lust of the eyes from Satan. Again, the only way to defend yourselves from his fiery darts of lust of the eyes is to make a covenant with your eyes.

Therefore beloved brothers in Christ, may I challenge you to “make a covenant with your eyes” because lusting after a woman in the heart is as equally sinful as committing the actual sin of adultery according to our Lord (Matt 5:28). Such temptation can be sown by the devil by having you lingering your eyes upon barely or loosely adorned women whether in person or in image. Thus, flee from temptation (2 Tim 2:22) or physically remove yourself from places of temptations as Joseph of old did (Gen 39:9-12). Also as Apostle Paul said, ”…be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom 12:2) And meditate upon “whatsoever things are pure and” holy and that “are of good report ” (Phil 4:8) by hiding in or saturating (Ps 119:11) yourself with God’s Word and so that you may keep your heart with all diligence (Pro 4:23). Therefore brothers, walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:16), gird up the loins of your mind, be sober (1 Pet 1:13), don’t give in to the lust of concupiscence (1 Thess 4:5) and yield not to the temptation and resist the devil in faith (1 Pet 5:8,9) so we will not fall into his traps and keep our covenant with our eyes as our faithful LORD enables us each day to render all glory and honour to Him in our lives.

And beloved sisters in Christ, may I plead unto you by the mercy of God to “make a covenant with your eyes” by way of not conforming to the world’s fashion trend and clothing that are designed to bring attention to self in vanity, for “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen…”.  Despite this, there is a place for Christian ladies to look attractive and beautiful (Pro 31:22) in modest apparel (1 Tim 2:9a), but bear in mind that it is the inner beauty that one ultimately should eagerly desire after (Pro 31:30) rather than the outward and physical appearance (1 Tim 2:9b). In other words, Christian ladies should be attractive, in a sense, by manifesting their inward beauty and godly characters and virtues (1 Tim 2:10; Pro 31:30b) because the LORD “…seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart...” (1 Sam 16:7).

Conclusion

We are living in the generation that is culturally infested with concupiscence and lasciviousness; yet, Christians are to be reminded that we to make a covenant with our eyes as did Job. Both to prevent ourselves from being tempted as well as not to become a source of temptation to others by the way we present ourselves. May God help us.

Ps. David Weng

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