1 John 2:16 (misquoted) For all that is in the world, the lust of the eye, ear, nose and throat, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Don’t laugh, I am being serious. We know the real quote and we know the intended meaning. So often that is as far as we want to go with the meaning because just that much makes us uncomfortable. I am not here to make you comfortable.

Many of us have too much experience with lust of the eye. We do understand that looking upon things that are not meant to be ours can lead to covetousness. We are hounded by it every day, all day long. Its most common form, advertising. They have to sell product to make profit, so they target your weakest area, the eye.

What about the ear? What is the lust of the ear? Some will say it is music that promotes feelings that are dangerous. You can blame hip hop or rap or heavy metal or even contemporary music all you want, but that is not what I am talking about.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Heaven forbid that I should be offended by the truth.

Nose? That is simple enough. If you will not go where people stink, then you aren’t evangelizing. Jesus did not come to save those who smell good.

Throat? Think about the term, “that stuck in my craw”. How many times do we allow things to be said that ought not to be said? Not just by others but by ourselves also. Do you allow gossip to run freely in your group? Do you allow false teachings to stand in small groups without being challenged?

Ephesians 4:22 edited “Forget the former conversation you had with Satan, who corrupted your thinking because of your appetites;”

That is a drastic change of text. If you did not read yesterday’s devotional, this will make more sense if you back up and read that one first.

Appetite has a wider range of meaning than lust but the essentials are still the same. You developed an appetite for something, anything, because you tried it. We left off with Matthew 5:6 yesterday in which we identified hunger and thirst as acceptable, if you hunger and thirst for the right things. Truth, righteousness, and holiness are good things. Hunger and thirst are natural to the human condition, God built us that way for growth. In this case, growth in Christ.

The conversations we do not remember with Satan are self-satisfaction. Partaking of anything which is pleasing to self is what forms our appetites. It could be money, power, influence, fame, or things of a more personal and insidious nature. We partake of many things which form the basis of our behavior. Connect anything with appetite and a close examination of that appetite will reveal the driving force behind choices.

Proverbs 30:14-16 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

Key to understand of this Proverb is the horseleach (leech) which devours the poor and needy. A leech cares for nothing but itself. These appetites will never be enough, they only consume and kindle a fire within which is selfish in nature.