TACKLING TEMPTATION

Think about it for a minute: Somebody pulls out in front of you and didn’t even signal.  The person was in the right lane and needed to make a left turn.  They, just as calmly and carelessly as you please, cut across three lanes of traffic, without even looking, causing you and everybody else to slam on brakes.  To make matters worse, everything you had on the seat of your car slid to the floor.

What do you do?  Well, you could shout an obscenity out of the window. You could give the person a not so friendly hand gesture.  Or maybe you could even fight off the temptation to say the first thing that comes to mind.  Better yet, you could even thank God that no one got hurt

Well maybe we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves here, after all, many folks go through similar thought processes when things like that happen.  For us who profess to be Christian obviously the question is; “How would Jesus have reacted?”

As we attempt to live for Jesus and emulate Jesus in our lives we need to take stock in some things.  For example we need to understand; What is the thing or things that gets us upset the fastest?  In what circumstance do we find it easiest to let our “before Jesus” nature take control?  What excuses do we make for our behavior?

The Bible reminds us: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).  The word “temptation” can mean to entice to do wrong.  It can also mean to put to a test.  In other words we can find in our lives that the same experience can be both a temptation to do wrong and a test of our commitment to do right.

More importantly, we need to understand that Satan wants us to fail the test.  The good news is however that God gives us everything we need to pass the test.

The Bible says—(James 1:13) “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone”.   Jesus makes it clear that we need God’s power to face temptation and to stand against Satan’s attacks.

As you face temptation, doesn’t it make you feel good to know that Jesus is praying for your success to resist its power?

Thank you Jesus for praying for me and for the power you provide to live a life of success over temptation.

Be Blessed, Rev. W.