I do not believe that there could be any person on the face of this earth, who does not have to deal with some form of temptation, at any given time, everyday.
It creeps up on you; it comes disguised as a good idea. It starts of as an innocent thought ( or so we think ) Yet, before one would realize it, we have fallen for it.
Drawn into the conversation we should avoid, buying the magazine that should have been left on the shelf, ordering the next bottle of wine, watching the movie that should have been avoided.
It’s just so easy to fall.
Pro 7:4 Say to wisdom, You are my sister; and call understanding your kinsman, 5 so that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger who flatters with her words. 6 For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice, 7 and I saw among the simple ones, among the youths, a young man with no understanding,
We act like youths without understanding. We don’t think before we do. Impusliveness can sometimes lead to downfall. Nothing wrong with acting on the spur of the moment, but should we not just stop and think for a moment?
Pro 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; let us delight ourselves with caresses. 19 For my husband is not at home, he has gone on a long journey; 20 he has taken a bag of silver with him and will come home at the day of the full moon. 21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
How easy it is, to fall for the flattering lips of temptation.
Our guard is found in the depth and the wisdom of the Word of God.
Pro 7:4 Say to wisdom, You are my sister; and call understanding your kinsman, 5 so that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger who flatters with her words
Temptation is a pretty common experience-and our batting average for resisting it is not always impressive.
Our experiences are a lot like the seat belts on. If we do not fasten them, that infernal buzzer keeps on annoying us. We know that the seat belts were not made to hurt us or unnecessarily restrict us. They are there to keep us safe, and the buzzer wis our friend.
But instead of doing what we know is probably best for us, we would stick the belts behind us, fasten them and thus shut off the buzzer that was reminding us to do the safe thing.
We Christians know deep down inside what is right. We even know that the right thing is the best thing for us. And God coaches us from the inside with His "buzzer," the Holy Spirit, to help us resist temptation. But we often choose to ignore the buzzer and look for a way to shut it off.
We ignore God's signal and follow our own, even though experience shows us that things get messed up when we do not listen to Him.
We need to understand a little more about how Satan uses temptation and how we can win the battle. An understanding of the kinds of strategies Satan uses to defeat us can help us overcome temptation.
"My boy," said the storeowner to his new employee, "wisdom and integrity are essential to the retail business. By 'integrity’ I mean if you promise a customer something, you have got to keep that promise-even if it means we lose money."
"And what," asked the teenager, "is wisdom?"
"That," answered the boss, "is not making any stupid promises."
Wisdom is the key to fighting temptation. God’s wisdom that is.
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