Lead us not into Temptation

James 1:12: Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

The other day there was an advertisement for a sale of a very good brand. Our human side had to check it out. Were we blessed that day for undergoing temptation? It all depends on ‘did we act out on what we thought or felt?’ Our thoughts can definitely go worldly with temptations around us. If we control our wandering minds and keep our mind on God, we can reign in our thoughts to follow God’s will. Is buying things wrong? Of course not! Then, is this wrong – buying excess things that we don’t need, but to satisfy our feel-good moment of getting a deal? We clearly know that God wants us to be blessed but not be wasteful. This can be applied to other situations – did you endure the temptation to:

• Be jealous when the neighbor got promoted?
• Give the pretty colleague a ride?
• Eat the last chocolate bars when full?
• Pile all dishes till there were no clean dishes because you didn’t feel like washing up?
• Show anger on your family?
• Brag about the help you gave others?

Simple temptations gnaw at us daily. Giving in to one temptation can slowly lead us to accept that as normal, and then, we get tempted with another. Our best decision is to overcome the small sin by obeying the Word of God daily. It is not enough to read the Bible and then forget about it; if we also obey, love, and honor God, we will be able to endure all temptations by our faith in Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead guides us in God’s will, away from temptations and to endure temptations that come our way. Then, God will approve of our endurance and we can receive our crown of life for a race well run. How can we be sure about this? Because as the verse says, “which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” And God’s promises are always a Yes and Amen!