Isaiah 6 is one of the most majestic passages in all of Scripture. It sets before the reader a vision of the absolute majesty of God seated on a throne, exalted. It reads:
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:1-7, ESV)
I believe that this passage is intended to evoke our wonder; intended to cause us to desire to see the Lord that Isaiah saw; intended to be an image that captivates us and compels us to wholehearted willing obedience. But, as days go by we often forget the majesty of God and instead choose to delight in visions of other things. This delighting in visions of other things has many faces but none so prevalent today than looking with lust at a man or woman.
What we choose to delight in matters. What we choose to look with longing for matters. We know the seriousness of this because of what Jesus says in Matthew 6:22-23, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Instead of looking with lust at what we cannot have, God has called us to be captivated, to be controlled, to have our eyes fixed on his majesty. Jesus has come to show us true beauty. You must understand how revolutionary his coming is. Because of our sin, we could not look upon God and live. There was a vast chasm between him and us, a chasm of sin. We were removed from his presence. In the Temple, the place people went to meet with God, was a curtain separating mankind from his presence, but since Jesus has come, he has said, If you have seen me you have seen the Father. Since Jesus has come the Bible tells us that we have seen his glory, glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The curtain that separated us from his presence has been torn from top to bottom, the chasm has been crossed. This is why Jesus says don't waste your time looking with lust at a man or woman. We have something better to be captivated by, someone better to desire.
Looking with lust will cost you your life, desiring God will give you life. Choose life today.