April 12th

Savoring Evil

"Though evil is sweet in his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue, though he spares it and does not forsake it, but still keeps it in his mouth, Yet his food in his stomach turns sour; It becomes cobra venom within him.”
Job 20:12-14 

The book of Job intimidated me for a long time.  With 42 chapters, the thought of reading it made me tired.  I finally started reading it and found that it contains some amazing revelations.  This verse comes from Job’s friend Zophar’s sermon on the wicked man.  

We can apply Zophar’s commentary on savoring evil to the problem of pornography addiction.  Looking at porn is basically savoring images of sin and rehearsing them in our minds for lust.  For example, during my addiction days, I often savored the images I viewed either by looking for porn for hours on the computer, or by bringing them up in my mind later on.  At first, they seemed so sweet, irresistible and exciting to me.  Later on I realized the how the deceptively sweet porn was poisoning my mind.  It perverted my thoughts and “sexualized” my perspective on life.  It killed my innocence and pure desire to follow God, and replaced it with illicit fascination and an insatiable appetite for sex.  

I am so blessed that God, in his great mercy, showed me the path to freedom.  Just as he resurrected Jesus from the dead, he raised me from the dead too (Romans 6:4).  He resurrected the parts of me that porn killed.  This reminds me of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:11 NKJV: 

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” 

If you are awash in sin, and feel very far from God right now, you can chose to believe the truth that God will give you new life through Jesus Christ.  Just as he raised me from the death of addiction, he can deliver you from whatever is killing you.  He can resurrect the things that died as a result of your addiction.  If this is the desire of your heart, I encourage you to pray the prayer at the end of this page. 

Questions for further thought:

• What does it mean to savor evil?
• Why do you think the evil man in the Job 20:12-14 passage spared evil and did not forsake it?
• Can you think of evil thoughts, habits, etc. that you have given a protected place in your life? 
• The mouth is a gateway to the internal part of our physical bodies.  What provides a gateway to our spiritual bodies? (Luke 11:34-35)

Prayer: 

“Heavenly Father, You are mighty, holy, compassionate and kind.  I confess that I have savored evil in the following ways: ____________(list).  I see these now as sin and I repent from them.  Please forgive me and purify me of these sins.  Lord, please help me to see these evil things as you see them.  Please help me to abhor them the same way that you abhor them.  Please empower me to no longer tolerate this evil in my life in any way.  Please show me through the Holy Spirit how to live in purity from this point forward.  Thank you for your mercy and grace toward me!  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”