Temptations

When I put the title of this post, I realized that I might get some hits from people searching for a singing group called the Temptations. But this isn't about a singing group, it's about sin and temptation. One thing my pastor always says about being a Christian and sinning is this.....I sin all I want to sin, in fact, I sin more than I want to sin. What he's really saying is that as a Christian he doesn't want to sin at all, but being human it happens sometimes and it happens a lot more than he wants it to. I can relate to that every time I hear him say it. I wish that I could live a perfect life and never do anything wrong but the fact is that I sin much too often. We are all tempted by different things. But the encouraging news is that the Bible says that God will not allow us to be tempted by more than we can handle, and that he will provide a way to escape the temptation so that it doesn't turn into sin. Being tempted is not sin, but what we do with that temptation is what's important. God gives us a way to escape the temptation, but the choice is ours at that point -- we either take the escape route or we go ahead and sin. I'm just thankful to know that whatever it is that tempts me is not going to be bigger than what I can handle. And if I end up sinning rather than escaping, then it's my own fault and my own choice and I will have to live with the consequences.

Another encouraging thing the Bible says is that Jesus is not a high priest who doesn't understand or sympathize with our weaknesses, but he does understand because he was tempted in all the same ways as we are. The difference is that Jesus never yielded to the temptation and he never sinned. But it's comforting to know that he understands what we are going through.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet was without sin. Hebrews 4:15