Strategic Avoidance

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on.

Proverbs 4:14-15

When professional athletes are arrested during brawls at places like nightclubs and dogfights, we say, “How stupid! Why would they risk their millions of fans—and million-dollar contracts—by deliberately putting themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

Yet we all do the same thing whenever we go anywhere that exposes our own hearts to needless temptation. For each person, the temptation might be something different—the availability of various forms of media alone can present temptations that we know we need to avoid. The Bible says plainly, “Reject every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22, NIV). Our sinful natures are drawn like magnets to the things of this world; they seem attractive to us. One significant way to slay temptation is by not placing ourselves in an environment where we’ll be tempted. Call it strategic avoidance.

Proverbs 16:17 says, “The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives” (NIV).

It’s easier to avoid temptation than to resist it.

BILL SHANNON