04/02/2020
Are you dealing with temptation in your life right now? Is there a fragrance that wafts around you like a vapor and whose scent lures you towards something sinful? Perhaps it is an attraction to someone other than your spouse, or to a person who is already married. Maybe you are hungry, and are being drawn to steal a meal, or thirsty and want to grab another’s flask. Whatever it is, and temptations abound, do you linger in these thoughts, or do you pray for freedom and release from them? Do you ask God for an escape?
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:13 KJV
My father was A soldier in the Army, and so I was raised on army posts across the United States and in Germany. There were certain things that were universal about these bases that were meant to help soldiers and their families live fairly normal live; things like housing, a commissary where you would get groceries, a Post Exchange where you could buy clothing and other miscellaneous household and personal items, and during the Christmas Season, there was always a Christmas Village where you could buy gifts, trees, lights, and a wide variety of toys!!!
One year at Christmas I had gone with my family to the Christmas Village and spent a few hours browsing through all of the wonders there. It was a magical place filled with every type of toy a young boy could imagine. Looking back on times like that I know that my parents were watching us to see what attracted us most. We shopped for a while, my mother bought some ornaments and lights, and my father picked out a nice tree. So when these items were secured we left the store for the car. As I walked along, thinking about all the wonderful toys, I noticed something on the ground... it was a neatly folded group of crisp new bills. I picked it up, and counted them... if my memory serves me there was $24 there.
In those days that was a lot of money! These were days when a person could see a movie fo fifteen cents, get a bag of popcorn for ten cents, and buy a hamburger and fries for a quarter. This was a time when young boys always scanned the ground for lost change, and walked along roads looking for discarded Glass soft drink bottles so that they could redeem them for their five cent deposit. So loose change was something more than an annoying jingle in your pocket, and $24 in new green bills was a fortune!
So I fanned the money out in my hand, and it was as if I were standing there with a little devil perched on one shoulder, and an angel on the other. On the one hand there was the old “Finders keepers, losers weepers” rule of the school playground, and on the other hand there was the “Love thy neighbor” and “Thou shalt not steal!” verses of Sunday School. I was torn as to what I should do. There was doing what was right, and there was the temptation of crisp new bills that could be mine. So I hugged on my mother’s dress held up the money, told her I had found it, and said that I needed to go back inside and give the money to the store manager. She smiled, took my hand and off we went to give the money to the manager.
My dilemma in the parking lot that day lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime... and maybe it had been. Temptation is one of those things that can be nurtured and grown into a large vine, but the fruit it bears is bitter, and the juice from it stains you permanently. My Sunday School verses allowed me to defeat my temptation that day, and my escape was deliberate and quick... no loitering, or contemplating it until I might have rationalized the act of sinning. I remember that day, the money, and returning that $24, as if it were yesterday, even though it has been 65 years since I stood in the toy store parking lot.
Today that event brings a victory to mind, but what would have happened had I slipped that money into my pocket? How would that day have affected my life, and what would I remember? Would it have led me to many other similar temptations, and lost struggles between what was right, and what was wrong? This is the power of temptation, and speaks to the need to win out quickly over it. God forgives us of our sin, but He does something else that is very important... He chooses to forget.
“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”
Isaiah 43:25 KJV
God chooses to forget, not for our benefit, but for His. Perhaps if He were to dwell on our failures He would be tempted to look at us differently... I really don’t know for certain, but I know what He tells us to dwell on, and I think the two are related.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 KJV
We are to dwell on what is good, and by doing this it changes us for the good. God forgives us, and this is good, then He chooses not to remember the bad we did, which changes who He sees us as. Do you see the similarity? When we continue to contemplate our temptations they eventually grow into large vines and entangle us... becoming reality. If God we’re to forgive, but not forget, how would that affect Him?
“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalms 103:10-12 KJV
God forgives, and forgets. He doesn’t forgive, and then linger on in the moment, waiting to see if we sin again... He forgets at once. Not dwelling on our temptations and not dwelling on past sin are equally important... whether we be man, or God we are to think on good, and behave likewise. This is the character of Jesus, and should be ours as well...
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 KJV
So I ask again... “Are you dealing with temptation in your life right now?“ if you are, is it something you have been harboring there for quite a while? Well it’s time to let your temptations go, to separate yourself from them, and to walk away from their hold on you. It is time to make your aversion to sin and temptation a knee jerk reaction that automatically causes you to resist them without thought. Are you ready for this; then reach out in prayer, hear the Word of God In your mind, live as Jesus lived, and gain your understanding from the Holy Spirit... finding escape in this way.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for not only forgiving my sins, but choosing not to remember them. Thank you Lord for teaching me to separate myself from temptation and for providing me escape from it. I thank you also for leading me to think on those things that are good, and virtuous. I pray “Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil”, and I turn to you; trusting that you will give me not only your leadership, but the courage, strength, and perseverance, it takes to follow you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God whose armor I wear against sin and temptation. Great are you who leads me quickly into righteousness, and away from the influence of evil. Praised be your name for your love, goodness, and mercy that has snatched me from the path of temptation and sin through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Merciful are you who forgives me, and washes away my sins with the blood of your Son. Wonderful are you who chooses not to remember my transgressions, and sees me pure and righteous. Glorious are you Father, for all glory is yours, and made perfect in your grace which flows over me through Jesus. Hear my prayers, strengthen me against all temptation, lead me on in righteousness, and see me cleansed in Christ, for you are awesome in your splendor... now, and forevermore.
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
James 1:12-15 ESV
Rich Forbes