Every temptation seeks to take you away from your purpose…
It designs to keep you from glorifying God…
… by moving you away from what He’s given you to do.
This is why Proverbs portrays temptation as a seductive woman seeking to lead a young man off his path.
Keep this principle in mind and it will help you dodge your own temptations.
The world, flesh and the devil DO NOT want you to fulfill whatever mission God has for you.
Yet fulfilling this mission–or missions– is exactly what He calls you and equips you to do.
And along the way, He is faithful… to provide an exit for the temptations that will come roaring against you.
One of the most basic escapes He gives is a sense of calling.
So wholly commit to what God has given you to do — in all areas of life.
With this, temptations lose their appeal.
You will see them as distractions getting in your way, slowing you down, taking you off course.
Let them make you mad as you see them as the enemies they are.
And by God’s grace you can slip away from them…
… and stick to the good He wants you to accomplish.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says:
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Amen.
We should never treat a temptation as something easy to evade.
This would be a dangerous presumption.
But God does always give a way out of temptation’s grip.
And one of the simplest of these is to remember…
No matter who you are…
He has given you a mission to accomplish–for Him and with Him.
And pursuing this faithfully is far greater… plus more satisfying and interesting… than yielding to any fleeting temptation.
Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.
~Proverbs 4:25-27
