July 26

Read: James 1:16-18

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures (James 1:18, R.S.V.).

The Physical Hungers

We saw yesterday that, even though we have been sanctified wholly, our temptations may be fierce and long. We may continually seek to rid our minds of some evil suggestion and yet have that suggestion repeatedly thrust back into consciousness. To draw an illustration from an experience that baffles many sincere young Christians may be helpful.

It is as natural for sex desire and sex thought to thrust themselves into consciousness under normally recurring physical conditions as it is for one to feel hungry and to think about food when the stomach is empty. The one desire is no more evidence of carnality than the other. God made us this way and He did it on purpose “that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”

Dr. Dougan Clark has said, “God does not design to annihilate our physical appetites and propensities, but to sanctify them. He does not wish to make us anything else than men and women, but He does wish us to be holy men and women.”

The very nature of the sex instinct and the necessary inhibitions of its normal expression among unmarried young people make of it a recurrent source of temptation. To feel these desires and to have corresponding thoughts enter the mind is no necessary indication of carnality in the soul. However, the holy heart seeks to resist instantly every suggestion of satisfying bodily hungers in ways that are forbidden by the Heavenly Father, whom we love and serve.

Affirmation For Today

I discipline my body and make it serve me (I Corinthians 9:27, Berkeley Version).