A number of years ago, my wife, Cathe, and I had a friend in Virginia who offered us the use of his cabin for a few nights. We thought it would be fun, so we got directions and drove out to this little place in the woods.
Trouble was, it was wintertime … and cold! The cabin had a heating system that required you to throw logs into a furnace in the basement. Well, we were freezing, so we kept throwing in the wood constantly. My background in lighting fires was buying a Dura-Flame log at the market or just turning on the gas in our fireplace. Raised in California as I was, I hadn't built many fires.
My friend had told me you had to clean out the furnace from time to time, and dump out the ashes. "But be careful," he'd instructed. "Those embers can stay hot for a long time." One night after we'd been there a couple of days, I threw out a whole bucket full of ash out into the forest. I was shocked to see 30 or 40 live embers go out with it. The embers landed on the leaves and immediately started a number of little fires. Then a breeze came, blew the embers around, and I thought I was going to burn the whole forest down. It was a terrifying experience.
Cathe was already in bed, it was late at night, and I was in my pajamas. Running back into the cabin, I grabbed an ice bucket about the size of a drinking glass and filled it from the tap. But how was I going to put out all those mini-fires I had started? Calling out to God, I eventually got all the fires extinguished. But it was a terrible night. I kept waking up and going outside to check and see if the fires were really out.
It's amazing how one tiny spark – one little ember – can cause so much damage. The Bible asks the question, "Can a man take fire into his lap and not be burned?" In that verse, the Bible is speaking about sexual fire, the fires of lust. How devastating those fires can be! We all know people who have had their lives ruined because they could not control their sexual passions. God has given us a clear word on these matters, urging us and warning us to remain sexually pure until we are married, and then faithful to our spouse after that.
Think what a different world it would be if people didn't commit adultery and fornication and immorality. Think how different our own nation would be. Think how different the church would be if we could get these areas under control. How many divorces could have been avoided? How many families would still be together today? How many fathers would still be at home to raise their children?
Jesus said of His day that it was "a wicked and adulterous generation." If it was true of His time, how much more true is it today? According to many statistics, 40 to 50 percent of all married men have had extramarital affairs. And it's no wonder, because we are constantly bombarded by sexual imagery everywhere you look.
It reminds me of the ancient city of Corinth where sexual sin was also rampant. In the apostle Paul's day, the temple of Aphrodite sat atop the hill above the city. Aphrodite was the goddess of fertility and one of the chief idols worshiped by the people of that day. From Aphrodite's temple as many as a thousand prostitute princesses would walk through the streets of Corinth wearing specially designed sandals that left the words "follow me" imprinted in the sand. Many of the men in Corinth did just that, to their own ruin.
We're seeing that same message everywhere we look today, aren't we? Follow me. Give in to your impulses. Cast aside your hang-ups. You deserve this. But then we hear the voice of Jesus calling us to follow Him. And an important part of following Him is to do what His Word tells us to do and be sexually pure.
Are you a single person right now who is fooling around sexually? Are you a married person dabbling in sexual fantasies or unwise and compromising relationships? Are you a guy surfing the Net on a regular basis to look at pornography? How deeply this will damage your life, your family and your relationship with God! It will affect you in ways you can't even imagine right now.
If only we would think about things like that before we fall into sin. The damage to our witness, to our integrity, and most of all to the Lord Himself. Think about the repercussions of that little fling, that little one-night stand. Think about your son. Think about your daughter. Think about your reputation. Think about how you'll be reaping the results of this for 10 years … or the rest of your life.
You say, "Well, God is a forgiving God and He will forgive me." Yes, He is a forgiving God. But the Bible tells us very plainly that we will reap what we sow. Just don't go there! Don't even take the first step by indulging that first lustful thought. The first step in that direction is taking a trip to Fantasy Island.
Do whatever you can to take practical steps to build a wall of protection around you and around your family. Be very careful in your conversations with the opposite sex. Most affairs don't begin out of raw lust. They begin with people working together, being together. It can even happen in the church and the people you serve with. You know what I mean. You're around this woman and she's a little more understanding than your wife is. She laughs at your stupid jokes that your wife doesn't laugh at anymore. She tells you how cute and clever you are. It puffs up your ego. You're digging it, and you become closer and closer friends. Maybe you start to e-mail, text message or talk on the cell phone.
You tell yourself it's all harmless, but deep down you know you're only lying to yourself. Be on your guard, my friend. Don't let even one of those little live embers start a fire, because you never know where that fire may end. It may burn down a forest. It may take down the house where you live and destroy people you love inside.
Maybe Smokey Bear was right. The best way to put out a forest fire is never to start one to begin with.