My cup will soon be filled with Door County Apple Cobbler Coffee and it will be time to get ready for work.
Last month while I was on a short term mission trip we had to hike up and down a hill from our base camp to the ministry and work sites. The trail down the hill was anything but a well laid sidewalk with ADA compliant stairs. At times it could be described as a "slippery road". One wrong step and you could have road rash on your legs or butt.
The climb down reminded me of a Bible passage.
James 1:13-15New International Version (NIV)
13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
We are never tempted to do wrong by God. Yet when we allow our own desires to rule us we are dragged further into sin like the one bad step on our trail in Haiti. The consequences on that hill were that you would fall further down the hill and could hurt yourself. I did notice however that once someone slipped the fall was not immediately to the bottom. In one instance the first fall led to a second one for a friend of mine.
Sin is the same way. It can convince you that you are ok after your first fall, but the self induced security always leads to another fall. Sooner than later it is a complete fall which is harder to return from.
We need to walk with our spiritual eyes open and avoid temptation by knowing and admitting our own desires and weaknesses. Once we know our weaknesses we can develop a plan to avoid putting ourselves into the path of temptation. We really have to own our weaknesses and evil desires. We cannot blame God for our choices that lead us down the wrong roads in life.
I suggest you meet with an accountability partner and write down your weak spots. Share them with one another and use each other to help in times of struggle and temptation. This is the beginning of a good plan. Tomorrow we will talk a little more about two more of our plan elements.
God bless,
Marty
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