Temptation’s Adversary - The One Year At His Feet Devotional
Temptation’s Adversary
Read: Luke 11:2-4
“Lead us not into temptation.”
Luke 11:4
“To realize God’s presence is the one sovereign remedy against temptation.”
—François Fénelon
IN WORD Temptation is a struggle for all who have ever tried to live a godly life. Godliness doesn’t come naturally to us, and we are constantly tempted with what does: ambitions, lusts, bad habits, self-interest, conflict, and more. The natural self is much harder to live with once we’ve decided not to follow it anymore. It just won’t go away. Most of us will go through stretches when we can successfully subdue it. But those stretches don’t last. We give out, and the sinful nature is still there. All we have to do is let down our guard and relax for a minute, and it quickly reminds us of the old things it offers us.
Much of “Christian living” literature tries to address this problem. We are encouraged to starve the sinful nature, ignore it, talk back to the devil who feeds it, beat it into submission, and more. These can all be helpful and effective techniques. But there is another that should come before all of them: We should ask God to lead us away from tempting situations. We often determine to subdue the flesh and then live in a climate that cultivates it. We decide to forsake materialism, but look through catalogs that entice us with all sorts of offers. We decide to abandon lust, but watch programs that provoke it. We decide to break a habit of food or drink or other substance, but we don’t rid our environment of the substance. We want to starve the flesh, but we don’t really want to.
IN DEED Jesus gives us an acceptable—even commanded—model prayer. Ask God to lead you away from temptation. Cooperate with Him. Ask yourself why you can be so embracing of temptation and so hesitant in faith, when it really should be the other way around. The deceitfulness of the sinful nature is subtle. The only effective counterattack is a firm “no” and an appeal for divine assistance. It’s OK to ask for that; Jesus tells us to. Don’t hide your temptations from the One who is glad to oppose them. Point them out and let Him steer you away.
