When I was a little boy, as the daylight died in the evening I often watched the lamplighter travel down the street to light the street lamps. The lamps were lit by coal gas, and as he arrived at each lamp post he would move his long poll from his shoulder and with it use the hook at the end of it to pull down the lever which turned on the gas, and them push the flaming taper through a gap in the lamp to ignite the gas. As he walked down the road so the darkened street would change to light, and soon everywhere was illuminated.
As you journey through life you will meet with the darkness of temptation to do what you know to be wrong. If you overcome the temptation you will bring happy light to yourself, to God, and to others. The more we have victory over temptation the brighter our world.
Let us learn a few things about temptation. Temptation is not a bad or wicked thing. The best way to think about it perhaps is that it is a test, an examination to see if a thing we believe in is what we practice in fact.
In Matthew ch 4 v1 we read “ Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil”. Jesus knew who He was, Satan said “If you are” , then tempted Him. There is nothing wrong in being tempted, but if we fail the test and give in to the temptation it is to go against our believed standards.
We also see in that verse that temptations are tailor-made to our situation, not somebody else.
What about resisting temptations? We always find it so hard, and that is because we really want to do what we are tempted to do. They are real tests ! Enjoy reading this verse from scripture, (1 Cor: ch 10-v13)
“There is no temptation taken you but is common to everyone, and with the temptation God makes a way of escape, that you may be able to deal with it.” If you are being tempted look for the way to escape. I have learned to shoot a little prayer to God to get me out of it, and surely because I don’t want to give in to it, the way to escape comes for me to take.
(A verse worth committing to memory, for temptations will come again) You never have to give way to temptations. Avoid the disasters that always follow !
I close with this lovely verse from I Peter 5v8)
“Be self controlled and alert, your enemy, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him ! Stand firm in the faith, for you know that fellow Christians throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering.”
Give Joy to God and don’t give in, He will help you if you want Him to, There is always a way to escape..
Your Lord be with you. Gerald Gossage..