By Steven Norris
Who among us has not experienced temptation in some form? When the cashier gives us too much change, we may be tempted to remain silent and walk away a little richer. When the beggar on the street asks for that change, we may be tempted to ignore him. When our reputation is at stake, we may be tempted to tell a “little white lie.” When there is injustice in our world, we may be tempted to mind our own business. When we are overwhelmed with emotion, we may be tempted to lash out at those closest to us. When an attractive person walks by, we may be tempted to allow our gaze to linger.
We all know what it is like to be lured away or enticed to do something that we know we shouldn’t. I define temptation as anything that takes our eyes off of God or lures us away from God’s plan. While the experience of temptation is universal, it is also unique. What tempts me may not tempt you. Therefore, temptations provide us opportunities to look in the mirror and truly know ourselves — for better or for worse.
Where does temptation originate? Is it a tool of the Enemy? From God? From ourselves? In the New Testament, we read, “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 1:13-15).
We are all marked by sin and since the very beginning, we fight the pull to follow our inner desire. This is temptation — that desire for anything that is not of God. It is the seed that is planted in our minds and in our hearts. The temptation is that first glance, the sudden rise of anger, the fleeting thought of deception, the seemingly innocent “what if…” It may not be sin just yet, but he seed has been planted.
Chuck Swindoll loves to tell the story of a man and his son. The man told his son not to swim in a nearby river. When the son came home carrying a wet bathing suit, the father stopped him at the door.
“Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” the father asked.
“Yes sir,” he replied.
“Why did you?” the father pressed.
“Well, Dad. I had my bathing suit with me, and I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
The father was exasperated. “Why did you have your bathing suit with you?”
“So I’d be prepared in case I was tempted,” the boy confessed.
The Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (13:14). The invitation is to know ourselves through self-reflection. We must know the places where we are vulnerable and not make provisions “just in case.”