Lu 22:40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. It surely would be helpful if we had a DO NOT ENTER sign in front of every temptation. If we are honest with ourselves we have to admit that many of the temptations that we face could be avoided.
We all have areas where we are weak and most of the time we know what they are. In too many instances we are like the person on a diet who goes into a donut shop, just to have a cup of coffee.
We know before we go inside the donut shop that the smell of those fresh hot donuts and other goodies is going to be more than we can resist. We finally leave with a dozen donuts, not counting the two cream filled ones we ate with our coffee. In such a case we willingly enter in to temptation.
We are much like the little boy who had a slight summer cold and his dad told him he was under no circumstances to go swimming in the creek that day. When his dad came home from work he saw the little boy coming from the creek completely soaked.
The boy was quick to defend himself, "I didn't mean to go swimming. I just went to watch the other boys and I fell in. Since I was already wet I didn't think it would hurt to swim around a little."
"I see son," his dad said with a frown, "But why do you have your bathing suit on?"
"Oh that," the boy explained, "I had a feeling that I might accidentally fall in and I didn't want to get my clothes wet."
We are a lot like the little boy. Often we say we are tempted by something outside ourselves when we know we before it happens that we will not fall into sin but jump right into it deliberately. We sometimes make provisions to sin.
Jesus encouraged his disciples to watch and to pray so that they would not enter into temptation. We need to recognize our weaknesses and avoid temptation. The best way to do this is to increase our prayer life and grow closer daily to the Lord.
We are much like the little boy who had a slight summer cold and his dad told him he was under no circumstances to go swimming in the creek that day. When his dad came home from work he saw the little boy coming from the creek completely soaked.
The boy was quick to defend himself, "I didn't mean to go swimming. I just went to watch the other boys and I fell in. Since I was already wet I didn't think it would hurt to swim around a little."
"I see son," his dad said with a frown, "But why do you have your bathing suit on?"
"Oh that," the boy explained, "I had a feeling that I might accidentally fall in and I didn't want to get my clothes wet."
We are a lot like the little boy. Often we say we are tempted by something outside ourselves when we know we before it happens that we will not fall into sin but jump right into it deliberately. We sometimes make provisions to sin.
Jesus encouraged his disciples to watch and to pray so that they would not enter into temptation. We need to recognize our weaknesses and avoid temptation. The best way to do this is to increase our prayer life and grow closer daily to the Lord.
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ReplyDeleteI have always heard "lead me not into temptation, for I can find it all by myself." Never have truer words been spoken. Its funny that even when there is a DO NOT ENTER sign, you can talk your way around it. I'll keep my eyes open.
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