TEMPTATIONS
Pastor Larry
Gatlin, So Oregon
Temptation is something that we all face. It is an
enemy that can destroy us, or one that will cause us to become more determined
than ever to live a life of righteousness.
First,
temptation in itself is not sin. So often I have heard people say that because
they were tempted they must have sinned. The temptation is never the sin. The
sin is yielding to the temptation.
Temptation
may come in various forms. For King David it was viewing Bathsheba from the
walls of his quarters as she bathed on her roof top.2 Sam 11:2-5
2
Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the
roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the
woman was very beautiful to behold. 3 So David sent and inquired about the
woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam,
the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers, and took
her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her
impurity; and she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived; so she sent
and told David, and said, "I am with child."
NKJV
David
could have stopped but he didn't. In stead he sent for the woman. They had
sexual relations and a child was conceived.
Now
temptation number two. David is caught. But when the troops return for r and r
he has a plan. Get Uriah the Hitite to sleep with his wife Bathsheba and then
he could be in the clear. But Uriah decides that while his troops are still in
the field fighting he would not allow himself the luxury of sleeping with his
wife. So David orders Joab to place Uriah at the head of the battle knowing
that he will be killed.
David
isn't doing too good at this point at the temptation game. He is 0 for 2.
Uriah dies and David takes Bathsheba into his house.
At
any point David could have cleared things up by repenting and not giving into
any further temptation. But all too often we humans seem to compound our
problems by making more. David made choices and most of them were bad.
As
we face temptations in our lives we always have choices we can make. The key is
to make the right ones. Choices that lead to righteousness and not sin.
What we watch, what we listen to, what we read, will effect what we allow
to enter into our minds and hearts.
So
as we move into a new year, let's become determined to make the right choices.
And if we should make a bad one, let's not compound it by making more bad
choices. Remember 1John 1:9. "If we'll confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If we'll repent at the
first acknowledgement of our sinning we'll be less likely to make any further
bad choices.
More
important though is that when we see temptation coming, we flee from it as if
it were a rabid dog that is trying to bite us. Because it is.
Remember,
being tempted isn't a sin Yielding is.
Pastor
Larry
