Get Me Out Of Here!

Don’t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:13

First John 2:15-16 lays out three ways we fall for false significance: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—[1] the cravings of sinful man, [2] the lust of his eyes and [3] the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world” (NIV).

Our flesh wants fulfillment; then our eyes want what we see; then we want something to brag about. Eve fell for the same three things. It feels so good: Her flesh wanted the fruit. It looks so good: Her eyes saw the delicious-looking fruit, and she wanted it. It sounds so good: Then she fell for the big one: “You can be like God.” Now that would be something to brag about, but it was all lies.^a

When are you vulnerable to these same three lies? When you are physically tired, do you want something, anything that feels good?

When do you want to toss intellectual thought aside to make sure you get what you want when you want it? What causes you to spend above your ability to pay?

When are you most vulnerable to someone’s smooth and persuasive speech? When you feel desperate for money? desperate for love? desperate for attention?

Write down a time you fell for each one of these lies. Then write a personal prayer to give you the strength to walk away.