Illicit sexual pleasure is everywhere. Internet porn is two clicks away. An affair can be born out of simple Facebook chat. Inappropriate pictures can be exchanged via sexting.

Lust is so easy, so accessible, so cheap. And it looks so good! So craveable. So satisfying. The burning desire inside us feels so natural, so normal and so appropriate. In the words of Solomon, lust looks sweet like honey and smooth like oil:

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil … —Proverbs 5:3

Lust looks so sweet, so smooth, so good, so seductive, so appealing, so satisfying. It promises satisfaction and release and unending pleasure. It promises pleasure without consequences. It masks itself as need. I need to look at porn. I don’t have a girlfriend and I need to find release somewhere. I need to have an affair. My spouse is not fulfilling my needs so I need to look elsewhere. 

But lust has the worst credit rating in the universe. It always defaults on its promises. It never delivers as advertised. It always takes more than it gives. The honey is actually poison and the oil covers a sword.

… but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. —Proverbs 5:4

Giving in to sexual sin always, always, always has consequences. Every time we open the door to lust we bring another truckload of bitter poison into our lives. Every time we indulge in sexual sin we are essentially ramming a sword through our chest. We are committing spiritual suicide. We are poisoning our relationship with God and our relationships with others.

Lust is a honey-coated sword. It is a bankrupt borrower. It always takes and never gives, always promises and never delivers, always kills and never gives life.

Contrast this to Jesus, who said:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. —John 10:10

Jesus always delivers on his promises.