Weekend, May 27, 2023
We’re All Vulnerable
You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. (Hebrews 3:13 NLT)
In chapter 6 of Matthew’s Gospel, we find what we often call the Lord’s Prayer. We can use it as a basis to explore the principles of prayer that God has given us in the pages of Scripture.
Here Jesus taught us to pray, “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one” (verse 13 NLT).
Now, does this imply that God could lead us onto a path where we could face temptation? Or, worse yet, does it mean that God could tempt us?
Certainly not. James 1:13 warns, “Do not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else” (NLT).
James continues, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away” (verse 14 NLT).
Thus, Jesus taught us to ask God to guide us so that we won’t depart from His will and place ourselves in the way of temptation. We essentially pray, “Lord, don’t let me be tempted above my capacity to resist. Give me common sense. Help me see the traps and the areas in which I can be vulnerable. Then help me to avoid them.”
The problem with temptation is that we often rationalize it. Maybe you’ve seen the bumper sticker that says, “Lead me not into temptation. I can find it myself.” The Bible warns us about the illusive glamour and trickery of sin.
None of us are above temptation’s pull. We might think that after we study the Bible for a specific amount of time or walk with God for a certain number of years, we will always be able to identify temptation. But that isn’t true.
The enemy is cunning (see Genesis 3:1). We must be careful not to underestimate the pull of temptation in our lives.
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