1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE JOY IN DEFEATING TEMPTATION. Every true Christian knows we enter a war zone with the dawning of each new day. This side of heaven, there is no ceasefire, no periods of rest, and no moment we may drop our guards or put aside our armor. Our foes are formidable. The devil, the world, and our flesh wage constant attacks on our hearts and minds. Their objectives? Our spiritual defeat and destruction. Their chief tactic? Preventing us from obeying the exhortation in the opening verses of the twelfth chapter of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews – Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2). This exhortation? Looking to Jesus. And how do our spiritual foes draw our spiritual eyes off the Lord? Temptation. Bringing all kinds of temptations before us.
The design behind all temptation is to distract us from the pleasures of looking to Jesus by deceiving us to focus more on the pleasures of sin. Yes, sin is pleasurable. Yes, it does bring a measure of happiness but only for a very, very short period. It seems “good” in the moment and quickly turns bitter bringing with it the tremendous pain of remorse and regret which are far worse experiences than that fleeting moment of sin. And it doesn’t matter the area of temptation; lust, coveting, speech, attitude, the list goes on and on. All lead to the same sad places – regret and remorse causing us to “beat ourselves up” over our foolishness.
So, how may we consistently defeat temptation? In today’s scripture, we are promised that God provides a way out of all temptation. One of the ways is to remember the joy that will come by saying “no” to the temptation; “no” to the allurements of sin. And behind the saying “no” is to constantly remember the joy we will experience by saying “no” to all temptations. Think about it with me. What could possibly be more rewarding, more pleasurable, and more joy-producing that obeying God in defeating temptation? That is an easy answer. There is nothing more satisfying in a life than knowing we delight the Lord by our obedience to defeat temptation. And really, at the end of the day, that is why we exist – to bring delight to the Lord by a life of obedience sending the message, “I love You more than the fleeting pleasures of sin in this sinful world.”
PRAYER: “Father, help me to discern in the heat of temptation that obeying You is the greater pleasure.”
QUOTE: “Don’t let the alluring appearance of temptation to sin blind you to the poison in committing sin.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim