Discipline the Desire

Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because the sentence against an evil act is not carried out quickly, the heart of people is filled with the desire to commit evil.”

When I was in middle school, I lived in the country in the middle of nowhere.  My nearest friends lived about five miles away.  At first, I would get on my bike and ride those five miles to visit them.  They, from time to time, did the same. But it was the nighttime that would draw me into an area where I would get in trouble in the future. Some nights I would be on the phone talking to them and since they all lived in the same neighborhood, they would get together and hang out and play. I wanted to be with them. So I came up with a plan.

First night: Now it was too dark to ride my bike, so I got creative. After my parents went to sleep, I took my mother’s keys that were hanging on the keyring in the kitchen. The carport was an open bay and was literally right in front of my parents’ window.  I put the car in neutral and pushed the car far enough to start it without being heard.  I drove to the neighborhood where my friends lived and partied.  (Yes, I did this as a middle school kid).

On the way back home, it was late, and I was praying, “Please don’t let me get in trouble! Please don’t let me get in trouble.” I also remember saying, “If I get out of this, I won’t do it again.” I pulled up to my dark home. All lights off.  I was smooth as I turned the car off while coasting down the driveway to the original parking spot under the carport.  I eased out of the car and closed the door quietly.  I was able to sneak back into the house, into my pajamas and into my bed. The next morning, I didn’t get in trouble.  My parents and my sister did not know I had been out. It was because I didn’t get in trouble, I threw everything out about ‘not doing it again’.  Instead I was planning my next adventure. I think I pulled the journey off a few more times until I was eventually caught. And when I got caught, I got into some serious life changing trouble.

This is what happens to us all the time.  We do things we know we are not supposed to do because in our eyes we get away with it.  We think if the repercussions from what we do don’t come then they wont’ come at all.  This is not true.  Especially if your audience is God.

​What really occurs is the fleshly desire to continue to do wrong. Because we haven’t gotten caught, this desire pulls at us resulting in us going forward in a sinful way. For example, I know a few co-workers that thought they could get away with drinking heavy the night before coming into work. This has occurred often because so many days they have gotten away with having hangovers at work, thinking no one noticed.  Until that one day they came into work and finally had to deal with the consequences because someone noticed.

We do these acts in our marriages. Just because our spouse doesn’t say anything, doesn’t mean we aren’t caught.  We do these acts to our children. We think we act angrily, ungodly and sinful and our children don’t notice. But when they grow older, we see the results of their noticing our short comings in their depressions, addictions and failed relationships.

We must rid ourselves of this desire to do evil.  When we know wrong, avoid it. When we know what not to do, don’t do it. And when we know God would not be pleased, seek his blessing by doing good. Because unlike my parents concerning their car, God is always watching.

​May God continue to bless and keep you safe in His Son’s precious name,
Amen 

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