Being drawn to things that are not good for you. Have you ever tried to convince yourself, that if you have snack food in the house you won’t crave it, therefore you will be able to resist it! How is that working for you? Or have you tried to have ice cream, chocolate or other temptations around to make yourself stronger? Any success going on there? The truth of the matter is we all have weaknesses and we are drawn to them like a moth to a flame. Try as we might, we all give in to temptation. So what is the solution? Keeping temptation at bay, would be the smart thing to do. Don’t fill your freezer with ice cream, or your cupboards with chips if those are your Achilles heels. Don’t even buy them and have them in the house, car or office.
The same can be said of other tempting vices, like pornography, drinking, and drugs. When you are trying to change your life for the better, you can’t have temptation around all the time, or even part-time. Your circle of friends may have to change if they have a proclivity for your weaknesses. Thinking you are strong enough to resist the pull of having those things on your computer, in your fridge or hidden in your car, can be the draw to the light of your undoing. You mistakenly think if you know they are available it will help you resist the temptation of going out and seeking them, thus not succumbing to the temptation. WRONG!
A well-respected man in Christian radio was a frequenter of seedy gay bars and questionable nightlife, before he was saved. For over twenty years he led a wonderful life with wife, children, and his career. He thought he was strong enough to return to those places, and try to change things. By visiting those places time and time again, he succumbed to temptation, returned to that life, and, lost his wife, children and his job.
Do you think every mother bug has the talk with her children about staying away from the light? Repeatedly telling them it is not good for you, it is dangerous and will kill you? The mountain of dead bugs under the bug zapper tells us that the draw of the light is stronger than the warnings of a loving parent. So it is in life also, we can preach, teach, plead, beg and cry, but the choice always comes down to each individual.
How do we avoid falling into temptations? Don’t buy the ice cream, chocolate, dirty magazines, and alcohol! Don’t hang around people who will lead you astray from the good life you want to have. Be strong and surround yourself with like-minded people, in your church, community and work place. You are the moth, avoid the flames!
As parents we need to keep our children strong in the Word! Help them with the whole armor of God to resist the devil and the temptations he presents. Sometimes the temptation is very subtle, starting with things that fall into a gray area. Help them see the danger and avoid the pitfalls of complacency.
We as authors can be a great help to the young people of today’s society by showing them how fast a dependency cancer can spread, like drug, food and drink addictions. Show how dangerous wanting to be popular by being one of the crowd, can manifest itself into something life threatening.
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
James 1:14
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
II Corinthians 11:3
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26:41