Temptation is a reality in the journey of every Christian. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that even JESUS “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” JESUS is the only one in the history of humankind was tempted yet never sinned.
Giving into temptation is dangerous. James 1: 14-15 states, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-blown, brings forth death.”
Author Rick Green reported the following story that illustrates this truth:
A former policeman with whom I stayed on a choir tour told me about being on duty during an ice storm. The ice was a half-inch think on every tree in the area. He was called to a site where the ice and falling branches had caused a power line to come down; his duty was to keep people away from the area.
“There was a small tree near the fallen power line,” he said, “the kind with a short trunk and lots of long thin branches. While that fallen power line was crackling and popping with electricity, it was throwing out sparks through the branches of that small tree. The sparks would reflect off the ice-covered branches sending out a rainbow of glimmering colors. I stood there and watched, and wondered how anything so beautiful could be so deadly.
“I was reminded of the power of sin. We see something that seems so beautiful, but when we reach out to touch, it becomes death to us.”
So, we are all tempted in different ways by the Tempter himself. So, how do with overcome temptation?
JESUS provides the answer in Matthew 4. When He was tempted in the wilderness 3 times by Satan, each time JESUS quoted Scripture. Then, according to verse 11, “the devil left Him.”
To overcome temptation, we must read, study, and meditate on GOD’s Word on a daily basis. There is no other weapon against temptation except the “sword of the SPIRIT,” which is the Word of GOD.” Colossians 3:2 declares, “Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.”
One person said, ‘If our minds are filled with the latest TV shows, music, and all the rest the culture has to offer, we will be bombarded with messages and images that inevitably lead to sinful lusts. But if our minds are filled with the majesty and holiness of GOD, the love and compassion of CHRIST, and the brilliance of both reflected in His perfect Word, we will find that our interest in the lusts of the world diminish and disappear. But without the Word’s influence on our minds, we are open to anything Satan wants to throw at us.”
Pastor Mike