TEMPTATION
II Samuel 11:2-5 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Elam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
King David already had several wives and concubines. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a wife, or someone to lay with. David experienced what every person has experienced since Adam and Eve, and this is temptation. Temptation is something that encourages us to do something wrong. We can be encouraged to do something right, and there is nothing wrong in that. Nothing good comes from temptation. In fact II Timothy 2:22 tells us to flee from temptation. It is certainly not from God. James 1:13 say, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, not does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. The Lord even warned Cain by telling him that sin is crouching at his door, and desired to have him. Then the Lord told Cain that he must master it.
Temptation is never fun for the righteous. It is fun and even sought after by the foolish and sinful. Unfortunately David fell into the category of desiring it. As soon as he saw Bathsheba he needed to call one of his beautiful wives, a concubine, or all of them to come and be with him. Instead he kept looking until all he could think about was having her. Then he gave into that temptation and called for her. Some may say that she didn’t have to go to David. Well, back then if the king called for you, it was not a request. She or all her family might have lost their lives if she didn’t go. Sad to say most often not only does temptation lead to sin, but it will entangle itself in such a way as to bring more and more sin about as it did with David having Uriah killed along with several other soldiers just to save his reputation.
A person is not a coward to run from temptation. If fact if a person is wise they will run from it as fast as they can. Nothing good will come from playing with it. Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world know all the ways to tempt someone to sin. They have tempted much stronger people than you and I. They know just what buttons to push. What won’t even cause one person’s heart to skip a beat, will cause another person to fall at the least pin prick of temptation for another. They know yourself better than you do regarding temptation. What you think you have mastered and would never succumb to, they can make us look like a fool in a heartbeat. We should treat temptation as we would a deadly rattlesnake. The more we try to handle it the more likely we will get bit and die.
Even though Jesus was the Son of God and was righteous and holy, he was tempted. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Just think of it. Every sin that could be done, Jesus was tempted to do! If Jesus would have just committed one sin it would have disqualified him to become the Savior of the world. Jesus would have needed a savior for himself. But because he was tempted he knows what it is like to struggle with temptation. Let’s face it, it is not easy to resist. If it was it wouldn’t be temptation. It would be simply an inconvenient bump in the road to go around. This is why God said we must master it, because it (Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world) wants to have us.
Jesus’ temptation was no little thing! Satan didn’t just tempt him the four times we see in Matthew 4:1-11. In Luke 4:13 it tells us take after failing to get Jesus to sin in the wilderness, Satan left Jesus for just a more opportune time. I believe this was every step of the way to his victory over sin and death. Even as he hung on the cross he was tempted to come down and show everyone that he was God. But even then he mastered his temptations.
While Jesus mastered his temptations on his own, he does not expect us to overcome our temptations on our own. This is why even in the prayer that he taught us to pray, he said to ask his Heavenly Father to keep us from temptation. I take this very seriously! I have prayed this for myself and my family every morning since I became a Christian in 1974. I know I am weak and I don’t want my loved ones falling into temptation. They may be stronger, but they are human too! Everyone can be tempted and are! The only question is will we give into temptation and sin? More do that don’t sad to say. It is just fact. We are tempted in big matters and small matters. Satan and the powers of darkness really don’t care if it is big or small matters. They know that if they can get us to give in to temptation and sin at small matters, sooner or later we will give into big matters.
So how can we become overcomers when tempted? I think we always need to keep the end results in mind. What might be the consequences if we do give in to the temptation. There will always be consequences! Satan may say one time will not hurt, but in our heart we will carry the scar and remember it even if we never do it again. Giving into temptation affects us and others alike either directly or indirectly, and it always affects God and our relationship with him even if we are a Christian. It may not keep us from going to heaven, but you know as well as I do how hard it is to look someone in the face that you have hurt their feelings and it is even more so with God. This is why I personally believe that while we live in a covenant of forgiveness through Jesus, it is still good for our relationship with God to tell him we are sorry when we do sin.
We need to be sensitive to the warning of the Holy Spirit, and heed his advice. We need to have a good prayer partner that is very trustworthy in what we can confide to them. It is not always easy to find one. We might think our husband or wife would do nicely, but there are times when this just will not work. Hopefully our pastor can be this person, but even then some pastors don’t have the integrity that is needed for real confidentially. We need to recognize our areas of temptation and avoid the at all costs. What might be dangerous for you might not be for another. Don’t count on other to be your litmus test for what is ok and what is not. When in doubt run!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you know what it is like to be tempted. While we are glad you never gave into temptation, we have too many times! Please keep us from temptation and all evil, so we will not sin. We only want to bless and glorify you, and be a good witness of you to others. We love you Jesus, and ask this in your holy name.
