Temptations….
Are you ever tempted? Chocolate? Sleeping in longer than you should? Telling somebody something you know you shouldn’t? Looking at something you would not want to be caught watching? Its kind of silly to think that Christian, or a mature person does not know what temptation means, or that the more you grow closer to God the less you’ll be tempted. It’s an obvious lie. In the first place, Jesus Himself, the only perfect man to live and die, was tempted—routinely. If you’re tempted, you’re in very good company.
Is temptation strong? Absolutely! And of course we’re talking about the urge, or itch to do something that we know we should not do. Only those who resist temptation know just how strong it is. It can be overpowering for some people. And sometimes resisting temptation leads to even greater temptations and more urgent desires of those things we lust for! “A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.” (C.S. Lewis). They see nothing wrong in lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving, exaggerating, embelishing, etc, because they never fought the urges.
The truth is, you never know how bad you really are, outside of Jesus Christ, until you try very hard, on your own, the be good. “But similarly, only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means—the only complete realist.” (C.S. Lewis). I can’t stave off some temptations—-but I can rely upon Christ to help me, if I ask Him, because He really does understand our situation.
I want to avoid temptation—and so should you— but we cannot live our lives unexposed to it. I watched Netflix this past week to see the big boxing match, but as one that never watches TV, I was astounded at what the women were not wearing…. the vulgarity of some of the boxers…. and the profanity omni-present. No, TV is not something I need to watch because it does lead me into temptation. This is why we’re encouraged to pray, “Let your hand rest upon me”! That is, please lead us away from the wrong places, the ungodly associations and places we would not want to be found dead!
A few years ago I went to France for my annual trip for recruiting campers and staff. But on that trip, for some reason, I decided that it was the right time to lose some weight by eating less and focusing on no, or low, carbs. It began well at the airport and on the plane, and my first day in France I did pretty good. But France is the worst country in the world to start a low-carb diet!
This country, like none other, is known for its food. If you think of France, what immediately comes to mind is cheese, baguettes, pastries, champagne – the best food in the world! No, this is definitely not a place to start a diet; it’s a place to go and get fat and then experience your first heart attack!
So I tried for three days to avoid the desserts, bread, and pastries, but I finally crumbled and ate a single croissant. I simply surrendered to the bakery (they seem to be on every corner of every village) and enjoyed my one-day limit of carbs on a small croissant. But the battle was over—-I lost. For the rest of the trip I surrendered and indulged on all the wonderful delicacies one finds in French cuisine.
There are some spiritual similarities. Again, one should not begin (or even attempt to maintain) a diet in France – or while touring the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory in Vermont! But as a Christian, there are places I should not frequent, websites I should not surf, and companions I should not keep or entertain if I want to maintain my intimacy with Jesus Christ. It’s foolish to deliberately tempt my “fleshly impulses” by being in the wrong place, or placing myself in a situation where I know I might falter and succumb to temptation.
There’s nothing wrong, I suppose, with breaking a diet from time to time, but you can’t use that justification of weakness for deliberately setting yourself up to fail. To my shame, I have done that in the past, but was always quick to justify my surrender to temptation. But Jesus was tempted, just like me, and did not surrender. Being one who is born again, I can choose to not surrender to the enemy’s temptations when they confront me. And as a wiser man, I should choose to stay away from those places where the temptations may occur.
All those things by which I am tempted represent a desire that God placed in my heart that has somehow become corrupted and perverted by the fall of mankind. Sin turned good things, like food, drink, rest, sex, possessions, upside down and now I must make choices about what’s right and wrong. Oh, to be in a place where the corrupted way of seeing things is gone and the fight is over! But until I get to Heaven, I have to maintain a physical diet and spiritual focus. And when that focus moves from Him to my cravings, self-pity, or self-centeredness, I am right where the enemy wants me to be—a place where I become spiritually fat and unfit.
Solomon once said, “Make me neither rich nor poor”. Why? Each brings with it temptations that get you into trouble! Far better to learn to be satisfied and live simple. As our lives become more affluent, we seem to be more inclined to fall into temptations we never would have succumbed to when we were less wealthy.
Jesus was tempted, first in the wilderness, but throughout His life! He was tempted not because He was weak, at the wrong place, or looking for the wrong things. Satan tempted Him—just like he tempts the Christian today. Rarely does Satan tempt us to do atrocious things, it’s just the little things, at least at first, that aren’t really “diabolical”, but less than what God expects. He did not tempt Eve to blaspheme God or kill Adam. No, just “taste” this fruit—-“no one will ever know!” Of course I think about two things when Eve failed: 1. Where was Adam. If he was there that probably would not have happened. 2. Why did she go near that stupid tree in the first place! Why not just avoid it at all costs! We need to have companions, close friends, that help us avoid bad places!
There are some things we have no business being tempered about in the first place! And that’s one of the things He reminds me of daily. The Bible teaches us that one of the greatest temptations all of us face is the temptation of sex—-or “the flesh”. What is God’s counsel to us? Flee! Run away from it! If you try to be stoical and chaste, you will subjecting yourself to pornography, or a relationship with one that does not share your commitment to Christ and your discipline sexually, you are going to lose the fight! There is no resistance to Satan in sexual matters of lust other than flight. Every struggle against lust, trusting in your own strength is doomed to failure.
Within each of us there’s a dormant, slumbering, latent desire to do those things that are opposed to God and is reckless——-and those desires aer both sudden and fierce. With irresistible power, desire seizes our imagination and we do things we never dreamed we would do! All at once a secret, smoldering fire is kindled. Something within us that we thought was long gone and totally snuffed out——burns, is inflamed and becomes a conflagration! That hidden desire might be sexual desire, or for some sort of substance abuse—alcohol or drugs— or ambition, or vanity, or desire for revenge, our love of fame and power, or greed for money… But it comes and we are at a loss as to where it came from!
When we are tempted, we seem sometimes lose any idea of God—-we may begin to doubt God exists—and then the battle is lost. When we lose a reality of who God is, then His place as our Sovereign is replaced by the false god of desires and I find myself serving the lusts and passions that I thought were long gone. The only reality becomes the devil himself. Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God… The lust thus aroused envelopes my mind and my will in deepest darkness. The powers of clear discrimination and of decision are taken from me. The questions present themselves as, ” Is what the flesh desires really sin in this case?” And, ” Is it really not permitted me, yes, expected of me now, here in my particular situation to appease desire?” I begin to reason, “I deserve a little pleasure!”
So I am not saying that something is wrong with you if you are tempted. Actually, quite the opposite. If you’re not being tempted, it’s because the enemy has already won you over to his side—there’s no need to entice you to compromise your walk or life—-you’ve already given up the fight. You see, opportunity may only knock once, but temptation leans on the doorbell. It never stops. Oscar Wilde once quipped that, “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.” And of course, that’s what he did throughout his sad life. Mae West said that, “I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.” That’s how most of the world lives. But I don’t to be like most of the world—-no Christian should think and respond like the common person—we’re supposed to be new creatures! Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory. We will gain the strength of the temptation we resist.
Billy Sunday said that, “Temptation is the devil looking through the keyhole. Yielding is opening the door and inviting him in.” Don’t give in—-don’t give up!
The biggest and most dangerous human temptations are the temptations to give up too easily and the temptation to settle for too less in this life. Don’t give up!!! And don’t listen to the lie that God does not want to bless you abundantly!
But despite the trials of temptations here and now, here’s the good news. Temptations are a result of the fall. There will be no temptations in heaven. You and I will still have our personalities.
Bit in heaven there will be no temptation. I won’t have to choose. You and I will be like Adam and Eve again! They never had to weigh right or wrong—-they did not know wrong—-only the right thing to do! The tempter destroyed their innocence and installed the knowledge of good and evil—-and since then we must choose—and the devil is always tempting us to choose evil. “For the former things have passed away." The new heaven and new earth will exist without the curse of sin found in this world. The description of the new heaven and heavenly city includes an absence of sin. Revelation 21:27 states, "But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Revelation 22:3 states, "No longer will there be anything accursed." The curse of sin that entered humanity with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 will be removed. Praise God! I won’t have to think about good or bad—-I’ll only know good and I will be FREE from any anxiety or caution!
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