2002-01-23 - Measure Your Feet Day

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.

In America, today is National Measure Your Feet Day. Yes, they have a day for everything, it seems. So how can we get a devotional out of this? Well, I will give you a short personal experience about how important feet can be, and we will go from there. When I started college, I went to Arizona State University. It is fairly warm there. I learned that this warm climate meant that the women felt that clothing was almost an option. So I learned to look down. I memorized the cracks in the sidewalks and, with a 45,000+ student population, got to know feet. I was always looking down. If I looked up, frankly, I was open to lust, and as a Christian, I sought to avoid that.

There are a lot of ugly feet. That was for free, because this is really about lust. It seems to me that we, as Christians, sweep lust under the rug. I never hear anything about it that says it is a sin. I hear about it when someone gives into the "big" sin that lust invites -- sexual sin; but I never hear about it apart from such sad episodes. Lust is something we need to deal with ahead of time, or we are likely to fall prey to it's cunning incitements.

If you knew how many e-mails I get from people who are struggling with pornography on the Internet, you would cry. Lust is often hidden. However, it is not always hidden. I have received many e-mails from women who were divorcing their husbands because of their addiction to pornography on the Internet and their inability to let go of this sin. I have also received many e-mails from men who plead with me. They are asking what they could possibly do to deal with this problem. The solution is simple, if you suffer from this sin, and I mean suffer, kill your computer. Get a computer that only offers e-mail and word processing. They are cheap, and I bet I can even find a place where you can get one.

Your soul is worth more than your lusts. Lust is so fleeting. Lust is that double turning of the head which says, "Is he/she cute? I need a second look." Lust only makes us the victims of our own heart's failures. So measure your feet this day. Heck, measure a friend's foot, if you'd like. But when you are in a place where lust is something that might make you stumble: Close your eyes, look down, turn away, or hit the shut down button on your computer. Your soul is worth so much more than a few moments of fleeting passion that pleases or glorifies your Lord in no manner. Don't think any sin as a small sin. As soon as you have done this, satan has begun to rule your conscience, and this is not to your advantage. Instead, measure your feet.

Soli Deo Gloria,

T-

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