JUN 11

James 1:14-16
Memorise Hebrews 3:13
“…from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts...”

James 1:14-15 describes the downward spiral of sin which starts with temptation and ultimately ends in death. The process starts with temptation, and reading closely tells us what follows and at which point sin is conceived. A man is tempted, he is drawn away by his own lust, which is conceived in the heart. When he succumbs to this lust, sin results. When this sin has been committed and there is no repentance, death results. Thus we see that sin occurs when the person succumbs to his lust when tempted. Instead of resisting, he gives in and indulges in the lusts of his heart. This can be not just in action, but also in heart, as we will see tomorrow. Thus we realize that the temptation itself is not a sin, for we can still choose to resist that temptation, and go away victorious. But if we allow the temptation to fester in our heart, and we give in to it, we have sinned.

That being said, resisting temptation is not a trivial affair. We must never be so complacent as to think that we can resist every temptation that comes along without much difficulty. In fact, the very opposite is true. Every temptation is strong and subtle and every single one has the potential to lead us to the ultimate and final consequence of death. No godly saint will ever declare that he has mastered the ability to resist temptation. Every good and wise Christian knows that while we are in the flesh, it will be a struggle and even a battle to our very last breath. Resisting sin is a daily fight. The devil will use every wit and power available to him to see to it that we fall into sin. Those well acquainted with the fight against personal sin will know to take every precaution necessary to avoid temptation. Exposing ourselves to temptation is playing with fire. Allowing ourselves to see and hear undesirable things only makes a hard fight against sin even harder. Why then do we freely avail ourselves of sensual movies and music, violent computer games and materialistic pursuits? Why do we find friends in people who will lead us astray? We should instead take every step to be far away from things that will tempt us and lead us into sin. We should make it our focus each day to be aware of every temptation that comes along and resist it with all our heart and strength. May you join the battle as a faithful soldier.

Thought: Will you be ever strong at resisting sin?
Prayer: “God be merciful to me a sinner”.