Void of Understanding

I once met a young man who told me his story. The story he told me was rather pathetic. When he finished i could only conclude that he was a youth void of understanding. Not that i judge him for his error, far from it! I'd rather say that from what he told to me, i learnt quite a deep lesson as i saw the reflection of my image from the mirror of his epistle. This brother, let us call him Alex, was quite a decent young chap aspiring unto greatness. At least he looked much of decent from the much people saw of him on the outside. But even as i consider his story now in the process of my writing this, i can't help but imagine what was going on in the mind of Jesus when He said, "...whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." (Mt.23:27-28)

Oh yes! Alex was a smart guy with good looks, always ready and available for God's work. From what he told me of himself, i don't think anyone around him would ever have thought that as concerning him, the Scriptures would, without mincing words, pronounce him as a youth void of understanding. That Alex was battling with masturbation was known to no flesh but himself. He struggled, he fought, he cried, he prayed, he believed, he confessed positively yet there was no stop to the unending cycle of defeat, victory, and defeat again. In the midst of this struggle, his spirit was always and consistently getting battered. So many times he gave up in desperation and ended down the pit of wild and lascivious fantasies with his many women. To protect your moral albeit spiritual sensibilities from battering, i shall spare you the gory details of his indulgences.

It so happens that after his conscience has troubled him to drag himself to the Mercy Seat to obtain forgiveness, he picks himself up vowing never to have himself fall low again and displease God. No sooner he made the solemn promise, his eyes would feast on the female human specimen nearby while his mind engaged the sight that poured into his brain. The length of time between his rising and falling again was a random one. Once he had been able to go for three months without this sin getting at him. But he also once made a record on the downside- a record of five minutes. He just cried to God in repentance and five minutes later, he was wallowing in the mire of masturbation. He realised something that day. That he needed help. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom.7v24)

Thank God that Alex is no longer the man he used to be. He told me this and was bold to say it. And when i looked into his eyes i saw pure conviction, sincerity danced in his gaze, and his body language exuded truth. Now he truly lives the experience of "...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Thank God Alex didn't hide behind the banner of spiritual semantics and religious posture in public. Oh! They do no man no good. He sought help from his pastor and today, he is a complete overcomer as far as masturbation is concerned.

God used his pastor to privately and personally open his eyes to many truths. He didn't have enough time to tell me all of them for we were very close to the end of his journey. However, he did tell me of one of the many things that his pastor's counseling helped him to notice and understand. "I think time will permit me to tell you just one, a profound one it is," he said. "What is it?" I asked, eager to hear everything. Then he shook his head and smiled. He quietly reached into his briefcase, pulled out his Bible and flipping the pages to Jam.1v14. He gave it to me and i read it out: "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." When i looked up, he spoke softly.

He said that all the while he struggled with masturbation, he kept photos of nude girls in his cellphone. He watched movies that had erotic scenes, he listened to sensual music; all the while thinking that it never mattered much till his pastor explained to him how seeing and hearing all that stuff built up lust waves in him gradually till it gets to a crescendo at which point, he comes crashing down with the waves onto the shore of sin.

He was still talking when our vehicle stopped and he got out. Outside, he turned towards my direction and said, "Remember Jam.1v14, remember it." The smile was still on his face as the vehicle pulled out into the road and moved away from where he stood. Throughout the remainder of the journey, though i pondered his story i soon forgot about it. Meditating on the following passage from the seventh chapter of the Book of Proverbs recently, the story of Alex came back to me:

"...the strange woman, ...the stranger which flattereth with her words ...I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart." Prov.7:5-10

Why would the young man be said to be void of understanding? Because he sort of deliberately passed by the corner of the strange woman. And when he was about to do this as well as when he was, he told himself it really didn't matter after all he was just passing by. So the Alex (of before) passed by the the wallpapers of the half-naked women in his house, when he was flipping through the items in his cellphone he also passed by them; when he listened to those sensual music tracks it didn't seem to matter to him, he was just passing by. Whose corner? The corner of LUST on the street called Self-Deceit.

That is how it starts. Oh yes, you never intended to fall. You thought there was no harm in passing by. But you ended up going the way to her house. When you saw no harm in passing by her corner, it was twilight. You could still see ahead a bit so you thought there was no harm there and if there was, you would see it and quickly turn back or away. So you approach the corner, your emotions strangling the strength out of your will like a boa constrictor does its meal. As you were get close, the twilight of evening was turning to the blackness of dark night, yet you press on. The farther you go, you notice the sun of righteousness disappearing behind the horizon, its sunlight fading out; still you go on.

You tell yourself you are quite familiar with these streets and alley-ways. "I will pass through that shortcut by her house, that bypass named Self-Conceit, then i shall link up with the Main Street and head home," you say. But suddenly you find yourself at the doorstep of her house. That door you have gotten familiar with. Without a moment notice, before you turn to grope back in the darkness onto the street of righteousness, she jumps out with a lamp to complete the scenery. She comes out of her house with the attire of a harlot. Raising the lamp to your face, she looks into your eyes and she reads your lustful emotions, then with subtlety of heart she convinces you she can meet your desires. Meekly you follow inside- her captive. You are no more yourself for your passions ride over you in strong waves. When she is through with you, you suddenly find yourself on Remorse Avenue. You do know what happens after that. You SURE do!

Who should be blamed? You, of course! You lack understanding, you thought that it is trouble only when she meets you at the corner. You didn't realise that being unwary, your desires can land you at her doorstep. She did not entice you at the corner. Your lust drew you down to the doorstep of her house to be enticed, then you fell into the temptation.

It is the same process that transpires in acting out of annoyance, and in lying, and in stealing, and in all the other sins. When someone says something hurtful to you and you begin to dwell on those words in your heart then you tell yourself, "let me just reply him a little so he knows i am not a fool," you are just passing by the corner of WRATH. When you lie to hide a little bit of information, you may even convinvce yourself that it is for the greater good in that maybe you are trying to protect someone from the hurt of the truth, you are passing by the corner of LIES. When you take what does not belong to you and you tell yourself you will replace it as soon as possible, or you convince yourself that the owner does not really have need of it; then you are passing by her corner.

For how long would you continue like this? How long will you be like that young man. Alex got understanding. He had to do away with all the pornographic materials around him. He understood he had to flee from every appearance of them, he got to know that avoiding the corner of the strange woman was not an option, it was a command. That was the only alternative. I want to encourage you today, get understanding. GET understanding. GET UNDERSTANDING!


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Shalom.