POISON IN THE GLASS - Matthew 5:28
Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Man may judge you according to your actions. An important lesson that is learned during the Sermon on the Mount is that God will judge you based upon your thoughts. The Law of Moses stated that man should not commit adultery. However, Jesus did not come and destroy the Law of Moses, instead, Jesus revealed to the world that God does not judge you simply upon your actions, instead, God looks at the heart and HE judges you based upon your thoughts. Jesus said that a man could commit adultery not only in the bedroom but also and more importantly the man can commit adultery in the mind.
The thoughts that you think are more important then you can imagine. When you fill your mind with the things of God, God can use the fruit of your life to draw many to HIM. However, if you fill your mind with the garbage of this world, while you can put up a fake front of your own spirituality, God has no incentive to use you because eventually, your sins will find you out and all the good that you did will be destroyed.
God does care about your actions, but HE cares just as much about your heart and mind. If you do not control your mind and allow the things of this world to take top priority, how do you expect God to be able to fill you will HIS presence and guide you in the way you should go? Imagine having a single glass. For some reason you decide to fill your glass with poison because you like the look of it. Now imagine that you are thirsty and need a drink of water. You cannot simply dump out the poison and now drink the refreshing water you need, traces of the poison are going to remain in the glass.
There is not room in your mind for both the things of God or the things of man. Jesus taught you that you cannot serve two masters. Are you going to choose to serve yourself and do that which is right in your own eyes, or are you going to choose to serve God and do that which is right in the eyes of God?
When you add virtue to your life, you are choosing to fill up your glass with the things of God. Thus, when you need God’s wisdom for a difficult decision, you do not have to worry about the poison that is in your mind, instead, you can be assured that because your mind is right before God, your spiritual glass is clean and ready for you to receive the spiritual direction that you need.
No one requires that you add virtue to your life just as no one requires that you change the oil in your car. However, whether it is here on this earth or at the judgment seat of God, you will be judged according to every thought, feeling and action just as eventually, the car will have mechanical problems if you fail to properly maintain it. As a Christian, you may for a period of time be able to live a life pleasing to the Lord, but eventually, if you do not fill your mind with the things of God, your effectiveness for God will cease.
God will judge everyone for every thought that violates HIS law. If you desire to live your life pleasing to HIM, you must fill your mind with the things of God so that the things of this world will not quickly fill the void. Virtue is the tool that God gave you to think on that which is pleasing to HIM.