Enticement for the eyes

“From the roof he saw a woman bathing; she was very beautiful.”  (2 Samuel 11: 2)

What David saw from the roof of his palace one summer evening caused him grave trouble all his life.  When David got up from his siesta this evening, he did not intend to see what he saw.  He saw by  pure chance from the roof top a woman that was bathing in her courtyard.  This woman was oblivious that anybody was watching her.  It is a scene easy to imagine.  The woman was on the ground level and David was on the roof top of a multi storey building.  David’s problem started when he saw and lingered to see more.  Everybody occasionally sees what he never intended to see.  This is a fact of life and cannot be avoided. 

“For all that is in the world, sensual lust,^* enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1 John 2:16)

Things that entice the eyes will continue as long as man lives in this world.  Woe to one who succumbs to this enticement.  We are saved by Christ’s death and resurrection.  Our concupiscence wars against us all the same till the final breath.   The enticements or the lures are constantly searching for people with corresponding lust to jump into action.

Thanks be to Jesus Christ who has not left us without the means of working out our salvation in fears and trembling.  The Sacraments of the Church, the word of God and prayers are always available.