The following words will send chills of fear and guilt down the spine of every adult male. “Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28). Gulp. Jesus’ followers are not just to avoid open sexual sin (“the big ones”), but also the sins of an impure heart and mind. Lust is adultery of the heart, sexual desire for that which is not yours. And ladies, you’re not off the hook: it cuts both ways. Lust is sexual (or emotional) desire directed towards people to whom it ought not be directed. We need to hear this, because something is wrong with us and our sexual natures. As C. S. Lewis wrote: "Now suppose you came to a country where you could fill a theater by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let every one see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? And would not anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was something equally queer about the state of the sex instinct among us?" What’s the solution to our sexual corruption? To adopt a Puritan attitude? Sometimes the church tends that way. But here’s Jesus’ solution: “If your right eye causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away.” When living in an hyper-sexualized, sexually impure culture, we need drastic measures… Origen, an early church leader, took this literally and well… Is that what Jesus is calling us to? Why would Jesus talk like this? What’s His point? Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it this way: “No sacrifice is too great if it enables us to conquer a lust which cuts us off from Jesus.” I think Jesus’ point is to shock us into some serious personal discipline, serious self control. “Hands, feet, eyes” in Matt. 18:7-9 are “things that make people sin.” So get rid of, cut yourself off from, whatever leads you into sin and away from Christ. What drastic measures might you need to take? Disconnect the internet? Get rid of your TV? Cut off a relationship?