1 Corinthians 10:12-13 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
As Christians, we should expect temptation to be a part of our Christian walk. Satan does his best to deceive Christians into living a life of sin so that they are useless to God and ministry. Overcoming temptation is something every believer needs to learn how to accomplish. God has also made it possible for us to use temptation as a growth vehicle in the knowledge and grace of Christ Jesus.
We are all subject to temptation, from the most righteous person you know to the lowest criminal. Satan placed temptation in the steps of the Lord Jesus, Peter, and King David, to name a few recognizable names. Each of us is faced daily with an array of temptations: pride, materialism, dishonesty, lust, greed, sexual sin, and the list goes on and on. Being saved doesn't make us immune. Temptation is not a sin; Jesus was without sin, yet Satan tempted him. The Bible says He was tempted in all things but remained sinless.
A merchant ship captain had a regular route from California to Columbia. One day, just before he left for California, some drug dealers sent him a message that offered him $50k to allow a small shipment of drugs to get through to the U.S. He quickly said no. They raised the offer on his next three trips until they reached $150K. He hesitated and said, “Maybe”. He contacted the FBI, who set up a sting operation and arrested the drug dealers. A Special Agent of the FBI asked the ship's Captain why he waited until the offer reached $150,000. The Captain told the FBI agent, "They were getting dangerously close to my price."
On an episode of the old TV show "Hew Haw," Doc Campbell talked to a patient who said he had broken his arm in two places. Doc Campbell advised him, "Well, stay out of these two places." That would be great advice when we deal with temptation and sin. There are places in this life where we know there will be temptation if we go there. When we put ourselves in a place where we know we are going to face the temptation to go deeper into sin, we are inviting Satan to come along for the party.
John tells us the victory that overcomes the world is our Faith (I John 5:4). Spiritual Faith is the best weapon against worldliness. The only way to get through the temptations of this world is to focus on Christ Jesus. Then, when the world offers us its worthless crumbs, we can reject it because we have feasted on the banquet of the Lord Jesus. When our soul is satisfied with God, full of his love and life, and responds to temptations with spiritual faith, we will overcome the temptations that wage against our soul.
Scripture says that if you love the world and its evil system and what it values, then you aren’t loving God. So, if you want to defeat the world's temptations, love God more. Like the old chorus that says: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and the things of this world will grow strangely dim."· Faith in the power of God is the key to overcoming this world.
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