Our inhuman enemy [the 
devil, in drawing a Christian to defilement] inspires the thought that God loves mankind, and that He quickly forgives this sin. But when we observe the guile of demons, then we see that after the commission of the sin, they suggest to us that God is a righteous and implacable Judge. The first they say in order to lead us to sin, the second, in order to weigh us down in despair.
~St. John of the Ladder
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Romans 14
Oh beloved, it is true…
There are so many things that reach out and try to grab our attention. We can be pulled into actions that we know are things that we do not want to do. But the issue is not our head knowledge in knowing that they are wrong for us. The issue is understanding why.
Apart from G_d, our desires are not really all that helpful. Oh, it is not that we are wrong to want to eat and procreate and protect ourselves from danger. Nor, is it even wrong to dream the dreams of what we were meant to be. No, it is not the rightness of our dreams. It is the way we desire, and where this takes us.
Often, we are presented with a desire, and this quickly converts into a temptation to lust. And, the lust is not even the real problem. It is where the issue of what lust really is, takes us. Lust is a temporal issue. Lust is about trying to get something faster than is possible. And so, to get whatever we are trying to get, we are willing to leave the only space where we will actually find what we are looking for.
Now.
Now, now is an exceedingly (actually, infinitely) powerful space. Now, is the moment before the future, and after the past. But, now is actually not timeable, because it does not exist in the mere four dimensions of space/time. Now is eternal. It is the only space where our dreams can and will come true.
And so, when we jump out of “now.” We put ourselves onto a tightrope. We are no longer comforted within the boundaries of His dwelling place (read: eternity). We have gone out of that place, and put ourselves back into the dry and desert land of this fallen world. And, to stay on this tightrope, we find that we have to keep making steps further out onto the line to maintain any sense of equilibrium.
Oh, this is not as mystical as it sounds. We have all been tempted by something. And, instead of simply abiding in Him and waiting for Him, we panic. We feel that if we do not get the desire that we have gratified, we are going to miss out. And, in obeying our fear, we run after the whatever we are lusting after. But, just as we get a nibble, the thing runs away – and we keep chasing.
What to do?
Can we see it?
Ask yourself a question. This is one of the ways to avoid the temptation. The issue is actually clear: Would you (or this fool of a writer) want to do whatever we are about to jump out and chase, forever? Because, this answer is actually even more clear if we are willing to think about it. Whatever we choose to do, is what we are bound (without a deep change of mind) to do forever.
Hopefully, the point is even more clear. Whatever we are doing, is what we are going to keep on doing. And the lie of the evil one (that if we just taste the desire he is dangling in front of us – and everything will be ok) is just that: a lie. We are not able to stay in the now, in eternal abiding in Christ, and also be chasing after things that are of this world. We will either, abide in Christ, or we will be running from His presence. There is no middle ground.
So, are you feeling the temptation to run after something? Are you feeling like it is harder to sit still and wait, than to run? This is a lie. Running and returning is the much more painful path. And when we see this, we realize that the only thing we want to do forever, is to live, now, in His Presence. For, herein is the only thing we truly want to do forever.
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to abandon the timeline, and the lies of fleeting pleasure. Time to live in the now – forever.
A sinful soul, full of passions, cannot have peace and rejoice in the Lord, even if it had charge over all earthly riches, even if it ruled over the whole world. If it was suddenly said to such a king, happily feasting and sitting on his throne, “King, now you will die,” his soul would be troubled and he would tremble with fear, and he would see his powerlessness. But how many beggars there are, whose only wealth is love for God, and who, if you said to them, “You will die now,” would answer peacefully, “Let God’s will be done. Glory to the Lord, that He has remembered me and wants to take me to Himself.”
~St. Silouan the Athonite
