Temptation

I was walking through the forest one day; I climbed up and down many rocky paths, which were laid out before me. As I walked down some of them, I had to watch so that I didn't slip and fall down the hill; there were many steep and slippery slopes full of loose rocks. It was much like temptations which is laid in our paths. Temptation’s goal is that we lose our footing on the Christian path, and to trip up and fall. In hopes that we give up on walking with God, and give in to temptations lures and deceptions. The path in the forest and temptation’s path are similar. The path looked safe but was deceptively dangerous. One wrong step and down I would go against the hard rocks. A question came to my mind as I walked down the trail and that was, “when temptation hits do I run, or walk?”

Do I run hoping to pass the pitfalls that lay before me, but when I do I have a better chance of slipping and falling. While if I walk slowly and carefully through it I can make sure that I don’t fall. One thing is sure, we can’t go back to avoid them. We have to run or walk through the valley of temptation. I am not sure what the best way is, or the biblical way when it comes to running or walking. I know it says to flee sexual immorality and flee means to run, but what about our other temptations? Is it safe to run or is it better to walk carefully through them. When I run to escape the allurements of temptation I tend to make rash decisions and run in fear of being caught up in the moment. When I walk I tend to ponder what to do and make a more careful decision. When I slow down I listen more to God then my feelings about the situation. But running seems to be the natural thing to do. A fast pace seems easy and a faster way out, unless I slip and fall, then it takes longer to get up and get walking again after my injuries. Then I have to recover from the pain, affliction, guilt, shame and repentance. On the other hand, if I walk too slowly I tend to think too much about the situation, and spend time rationalizing about how to feel “ok” about sin. I justify it. It slowly becomes appealing to me and I spend time listening to the seductive voice of its call. I drum over the situation and look at the scenarios, most of the time I don’t look at the consequences very long, but long for the short-term pleasures. What a dilemma it is. Do I run or do I walk?

Is temptation like a minefield or is it a signpost on the side of the road? A minefield is something you would need to walk carefully through to avoid stepping on a mine. While as a sign on the side of the road is something I need to speed through in hopes to avoid reading, and thinking on, which would pollute my mind. Either way there is one thing we always need to remember. We need to consult God in prayer when temptation hits. We need to call upon His name for immediate help. He desires us to call upon Him and use Scripture to combat this evil in our lives, just as Jesus did when He was tempted in the desert. He fought back the temptations with God’s Word. He never had a conversation with Satan over the temptation. Never thought about how it would feel or even consider it, He knew its destructive power. The door of opportunity was slammed shut with God’s Word. He didn’t try to turn the knob to check it out, or peer through the keyhole. He turned from it because He knows what the enemy had in store. And that was death and destruction. Sin was not an option left open for Him, He closed the door in His mind. He didn’t leave the door half-cracked just in case something else didn’t work out for Him. Jesus slammed the door shut, locked it and walked away and never looked back.

In contrast, Jesus didn’t do what Lot’s wife did; she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Jesus turned away from the temptation and turned to the road that would lead Him to the Cross, a harder road to walk, but one that would lead to our salvation. If Jesus had failed, by opening the door to temptation, listening to its advice and followed the seductive voice of sin; then it would have sealed His doom and ours also. He knew the cost if He had failed, and He knew the price we would have to pay if we had lost our Savior to sin. He came to glorify God, and bring sinners into a right relationship with God, which He did. He understood our infirmities, our weakness, our struggles and our desires. He faced them all without falling prey to their destructive powers. We read in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (ESV)

That brings us to a point when we run into temptation. Do we turn to God and think He understands what we’re going through. Or do we see Him, far off, one who cannot comprehend our desires and our infirmities? Is Christ someone we can trust with the temptations of our life? As we see from the verse above He does know what we struggle with, and how we struggle. While He is holy, He is also One who went through what we go through on a daily basis. He suffered as we suffer, He struggled as we struggle, and He hurt as we hurt. His struggles are talked about in Hebrews 5:8, which says, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” (ESV)

When we look at the issue of sin we have two choices. One is to let our temptation lead to sin. While the other one is to pick up the cross of obedience and turn from the temptation no matter how strong and appealing it may be. At that time of decision obedience can be one of the hardest things to do. Even though we love God and desire to serve Him, it is still a very hard decision to make, but it is one that needs to be made. Temptation knocks at the door, we need to decide whether we want to obey Christ, or obey our flesh. Obedience is not always easy. When Jesus said, pick up your cross and follow me, He knew it would not be easy, just as it was not easy for Him to go to His cross. He knew the outcome and what was at stake. And we need to keep in our minds a fresh sense of what is at stake when we long for sin. Satan does not war against the followers of Christ just to make them ineffective; he also comes to destroy them in their sin. We are called to put on the whole armor of God, to consult the full counsel of God. We are not called to carry the cross of obedience alone; we are also called not to forsake the assembly of believers because we need each other to fight this fight of faith. So when temptation knocks, will you answer, or will call upon on the Lord through prayer and others to help you along the tricky path of temptation?