Leanness When We Lust

Psalm 106:13-31 All mankind has three things in common. We all have three major lusts in our souls: the lust of the flesh (seeking to fulfill our five senses in an overindulgent way); the lust of the eye (greedy longings in the mind that can cause greed and covetousness; pornography is caused by this lust); and the pride of life, which is trusting our own resources and ourselves more than we trust in God. All of these lusts are located in our souls—our minds, wills and emotions. These three lusts are the buttons Satan is constantly pressing with his seducing spirits. James tells us that God never tempts us, but we are led astray by our own lusts. The devil cannot make us do anything. We first have to open the door to him through one or more of these lusts.

When we lust for certain things, God may allow us to experience what we lust for as He did with the children of Israel. They asked for food other than manna, which was God’s provision. Because they were not grateful and lusted for more than God’s provision, God sent leanness to their soul. We forget that the first step in the cycle of sin is an ungrateful heart. Romans 1 tells us all about the downhill spiral of sin. When we fulfill our own lusts, we may be satisfied for a season, but soon we will be empty again. Leanness will come to our souls. Many of us suffer from bulimic souls. We have stuffed ourselves through fulfilling our own lusts, but we are anemic spiritually because we have neglected the things of God that really count. When we fill ourselves full of God’s Spirit and His Word, we will be fulfilled, or filled full. If we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Lord, forgive me for seeking my own pleasure, for filling my mind with the wrong things and for trusting in myself more than I trust in You. I want to be filled with Your Spirit daily, and then I will not fulfill my own lusts. Help me today, Lord, to stay close to You.

READ: 1 Samuel 5:1-7:17; John 6:1-21; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 14:32-33