Ecclesiastes 6:9 English Standard Version (ESV) Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

The eye is instinctively attracted to what we like. The temptation to look cannot be avoided, it is everywhere. It is almost like the eye has a mind of its own, but it was trained to look by a past we should have left behind.

This is one of those confusing proverbs. It is okay to look but don’t desire. The second half of this line reveals God’s truth. It is vanity to think you are looking without having been tempted in the past by those very things. Examine our actions as we go about in the world and ask ourselves the hard questions. Do we have a roving eye? Are we looking for trouble? Do we enjoy the temptation even if we know we will not give in to it?

The KJV ended this proverb with vexation of spirit. The spirit calls you to righteousness and you have not retrained you mind and eye to ignore that which should have died when we were born again.

It is not a sin to be tempted but that doesn’t give us the right to go looking for it.