Temptation

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and I tried to encourage the fathers in our congregation. One of the things that fathers face on a regular basis is temptation. Temptation is that thought or situation that tries to lure us away from our integrity, our faith and our family. Jesus taught us to pray each day to our Father to “lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:4). This is not an inference that God leads us into temptation but about our need for God’s help to overcome temptation. All of life is full of temptation and has been for the great men and women of the Bible.

Temptation is the arena where we grow moral character and test our spiritual connection to God. Jesus’ ministry began with forty days in the wilderness where Satan tempted him, but he overcame by his dependence on God and the Word of God. Again in the Garden of Gethsemane when Satan tempted him with a shortcut to glory bypassing the agony and humiliation of the cross, Jesus overcame.

How many fathers are tempted sexually to be unfaithful to their wives whether by involvement with another woman or through pornography? Solomon describes the scene of a man being tempted by a woman who has intentions of seducing a man. She leads him astray with persuasive words, and he follows her like an ox going to the slaughter, and little does he know that it will cost him his life (Prov 7:21-27). I can’t tell you the heartache I have seen over the years as a pastor of those men who fell for her tempting lies. These men woke up alright, but it was too late, they had by then lost their marriages and many lost their families.

Temptation, when overcome, helps develop perseverance and build our integrity. When Daniel was taken captive to Babylon, he was enrolled in academic training for three years to learn the language and literature of the Babylonians so they could change his world view.  They started by changing Daniel’s name to Belteshazzar. They may have changed his name, but they didn’t change Daniel. They attempted to make him forget his faith, but they failed because Daniel remained true to his God. The same thing could be said of Joseph when tempted by Potiphar’s wife. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Corrie Ten Boom stood up against Nazi oppression and remained true to their faith, and so do men of character every day.

As long as we live in this flesh we will be vulnerable to the power of temptation. Never fall prey to the idea that you have somehow acquired a power over temptation of your own. It is by the grace of God that we stand or fall. Only by our dependence on God and our daily acknowledgement of our need of his help will we overcome temptation.