Temptations - Part 4 // Temptations come when you go looking for them.

'Temptations come, as a general rule, when they are sought"
 - Margaret Oliphant

How true! So many times people will say when faced with, or, after succumbing to temptation: the devil made me do it, she tricked me, I didn't see this coming, it just happened, before I knew it I was in too deep. 

The shock! How did this happen?
The truth? The devil cant force us to do anything!

But he is an expert marketer!
He will, through clever and well-timed communication and images awaken desires that we didn't know we had.

A simple example - Have you ever been about your business and then walked past a restaurant, catching a whiff of steak grilling over a fire. Instantly you feel a hunger you weren't aware of two minutes earlier, and that hunger may drive you to seek satisfaction by going into the restaurant and ordering that steak. Before you take your first bite your imagination has already sliced into, sniffed, savored and chewed on that delight, tasted the juices, getting ready for the second bite. True?

James writes in the New Testament to a church and says:
"When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

Eugene Petersen paraphrases this verse in The Message:
"We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer. "

Some people are more naturally inclined to conform to rules, wanting people to be pleased with them. Others are more inclined to follow the desires of their hearts, irrespective of what people think of them.

The first group work hard to resist temptations that would lead to disappointing people around them - they seem to be good and moral people, and will tend to judge those who throw caution and care to the wind.

The second group of people often seem to get caught up in vices, because they deny themselves nothing their heart desires. 

Both groups deal with temptation - both have self-serving desires.

Occasionally there is a complete flip from the one extreme to the other - this shocks families and friends and causes tremendous devastation. A man may grow up inclined to follow rules and please people expecting to gain a good life based on his behavior. When life doesn't turn out as planned he realizes that denying himself all these urges over time has been pointless and so the dam wall of restraint breaks. And pent up sinful desires pour forth, unable to be contained. 

We all need help - what we need is a new heart, one in which these evil desires are not so prevalent and dominant, not so powerful.

So many people think that Christianity is a religion that forces people to behave a certain way, resisting and restricting their natural urges.

Actually Christianity is something completely different. Behavior modification is a human exercise. Christianity starts with something supernatural, and the effect of this supernatural transaction filters down into the natural in a very real way. 

This is kind of slow development from last week's blog - I know that, and any discerning reader will know that I haven't gotten to the point yet. I will.

In the mean time here is a clue to the point:

Dead People are not tempted by anything.

More to come

justdonlon