“13Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” — James 1:13-14 (ESV)
I have already studied and written that all will be tempted. I cannot escape temptation as I am human and the evil one is constantly seeking to destroy me and those temptations are just the beginning. I have only the chance to work toward avoiding the temptation or, once tempted, to be delivered. I would like to notice that the temptation comes from the evil one and not God. I can see in the above verses from James, that God will not tempt me as He “cannot be tempted with evil, and He himself tempts no one”. He does however allow us to be tempted.
I am tempted with that which I desire. That desire is usually not in the best interest of me or in those around me. I desire it only to serve the now and to gain some momentary distraction with happiness and there is no joy in the result. It is the evil one that drives the temptation to give in to my desires. I even recall in the television program titled “Lucifer” that the line from the “Lucifer Morningstar” character that drives the solving of crimes was, “What is it that you truly desire?”. This desire is usually self-serving and will only solve the now and does not get at the true joy that is sought.
God allows me to be tempted. He does so to give me the opportunity to avoid and resist. I am human and certainly have those desires. I will fall prey to them when I am not focused on Him and doing the work that He has for me. I have to remember that those temptations are from the evil one and will always be there. Yet I have to remember to fight back against those desires in order to work to avoid sin.
“15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” — James 1:15 (ESV)
It is not the desire that is bad or sinful. It is what that desire gives way to and that is the sin. Admiring a beautiful person is not sinful, it is working to be with them that is. It is not wanting that second bowl of ice cream, it is actually getting the bowl. It is not wanting to have more monetary possessions, it is taking them from others. All of the firsts in the above sentences are the desires and they, in an of themselves are not bad. It is when acted on that they become sin.
Yes, God allows me to be tempted by the beautiful person, the second bowl of ice cream, the monetary possessions. He also knows that I belong to Him. I have given myself to Him and by doing so have gained the protections from and guidance to avoid the sin that comes after the desire. I have to remember that He is not tempting me, He is allowing me to have free will and make decisions for myself to demonstrate my love for Him and that I do belong to Him in the end.
What are the things that you are tempted? Are you blaming God for tempting you with those things? What if you understood that the temptations are coming from the evil one and are there to lure you into sin and you only need to lean on the LORD to avoid and be delivered?
Trevor's Thoughts 