"My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. 27 For a harlot is a deep pit, and a seductress is a narrow well. 28 She also lies in wait as for a victim, and increases the unfaithful among men."
Proverbs 23:26-28
Imagine you are parched and thirsty. You are so desperate to satisfy your thirst that you would even drink putrid, stagnant water if it could be found. Then you come upon a sparkling well in which the water appears clean and pure. But it is just out of your reach, tantalizingly close. Leaning over you cannot cup the water with your hand, nor do you have any means to draw. The only way to obtain this water is to dive headlong into it. You do so only to find that the well narrows as it deepens, and it is impossible to turn right-side up! Thrashing wildly with your body submerged, your hands are pinned to your sides as your feet flail for a handhold. Your cries for help are silenced by the water. It will not be long before you will suffocate and die from what you thought would satisfy your thirst.
There are many carnivorous plants in nature which contain deadly poison to trap insects. One such type is the pitcher plant which is made up many colorful and attractive varieties. The unsuspecting insect slips into the opening and falls into a poison which drowns and digests the victim. If an insect attempts to crawl out, there are slippery grooves and little spines which prevent a trapped victim from doing so. One false move and the bug falls into the pitfall, and dinner for the plant has been served. A harlot is a deep pitfall, and really nothing more than a deep tomb in which the strongest men can fall. Anyone who sells their body physically, on the printed page, or through digital media to stir up lust has prostituted themselves for the destruction of themselves and others. This is one of the great tragedies of our day repeated a billion times or more with the push of a button and the turn of a page.
Porn comes at a greater cost than most people realize: broken homes, destroyed marriages, shame, degradation of people created in the image of God, wicked thoughts and imaginations, murders, rape, incest, and child molestation. Though not all who view pornography have done horrible crimes against others, porn is often a common thread among those who have. It is often a secret sin which breeds deception, lies, perversion, selfishness, and faithlessness. Pornography is treacherous and addictive. It is attractive to the senses and temporarily satisfies curiosity. Once fed the desires grow stronger until the hapless victim is without power to deny or resist. The story of many a person is told in Proverbs 7, where a young man devoid of understanding who passes by the house of a known harlot. He goes there at night when he thought no one would see. She came out to meet him (spam e-mail, pop-up ad, website), kisses him, and tells him she has been waiting for him. Her husband is not home, nor would they be caught while they spent intimate moments together. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Wrong: be sure your sin will find you out (Num. 32:23)! The outcome is predictable and certain.
As you read the following scripture, think about the seductress as personifying pornography: Proverbs 7:21-27 reads, "With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. 22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, 23 till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life. 24 Now therefore, listen to me, my children; pay attention to the words of my mouth: 25 do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths; 26 for she has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong men. 27 Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death." The people who have confessed an addiction to pornography to me from a young age who regularly attended church are many, and I'm sure I haven't heard from the majority of those who are porn addicts. It used to be a person would have to go to a store to buy pornographic material and now inconceivable abominations are available for free in the privacy of your room at the click of a button. It is easy to clear your computer history, but not so easy to clean your brain! How easily the mind is corrupted and polluted! How quick the fish is hooked when he takes the bait of a skilled fisherman!
At first you might think you have discovered a wonderful thing in pornography. But the more you feed on it the more you will need of it. It will not satisfy you. It will only enlarge your appetites and desires. It will only make you disillusioned with reality and you will drown in your own perversion. You may think you hurt no one. I tell you the truth: you are killing yourself. You hurt others when you undress and degrade them in your mind. You hurt your wife when your desire for her is sapped through your addiction. You hurt your children when you numb yourself with sin and play the hypocrite, leading the way to their own destruction. Don't you know that the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children to the forth generation (Ex. 20:4-5)? Satan does. It is a sobering thought that willful rebellion against God gives the devil license to tempt and ensnare a man's great-great-grandchildren with the same sins he embraces. Praise God that Jesus can break this chain!
What can be done? A drowning bug cannot escape a pitfall, and man is powerless to free himself from sin. Whether you make or consume porn, first admit that you have a serious problem. Sin's strength is in secrecy. Sin causes men to labour to keep it hidden and many are deluded to think they can kick this habit themselves. This only brings hopelessness through failure. Bringing it out in the open destroys the power of guilt sin holds over us. Remaining accountable to other people who provide honest support is critical. Above all, confessing and repenting from our sins to God specifically by name is paramount. Lazarus died and was buried in a tomb, but Jesus raised him from the dead and removed the graveclothes which bound him. So Christ will do for you if you will meet His conditions: confess your sin, forsake it, and be born again through faith in Jesus. He will lift you out of any pit of sin, and He will pull you from the narrow well in which you drown. May the question posed in Ezekiel 18:31 ring in our ears, "Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel?"
