Do You Commit Adultery?

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Day 541: Evidence of Responsibility, Part 3 of 6:  Romans 2:22a You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?     Thoughts for Today:   Many of us feel that un-acted upon impulses or thoughts is not really sin. It only becomes sin if it is acted upon. Jesus clears this up for us in Matthew 5:28: "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." James Allen (1864-1912) wrote: "The aphorism, 'As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,' not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." I think James Allen got it right although his "aphorism" is a quote from Proverbs 23:7a: "For as he thinks within himself, so he is." Or the King James Version: "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." The Bible agrees, we are indeed a sum total of our thoughts. In our passage today, Paul asks the Jews: "Do you commit adultery?" God himself broadly defined adultery as not just relations with a member of the opposite sex (whether actual or fantasy), but all activity which takes us away from His influence and Lordship over our lives. (For more information on this subject: The Book of Hosea emphasizes all the ways the Jews had distanced themselves from God by establishing other priorities and chasing after other interests -- God considered all of this adultery. Questions to Ponder:   If you consider God's definition of adultery -- have you been faithful? Have you been pursuing other interests or placing greater priority on activities not directed by the Lord? Do you need to re-order some of those activities? Do some need to be eliminated? "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." What thoughts are in your heart? Would God be pleased? Do you need to do some housecleaning?