Tuesday Reading: 1 Peter 4:1-3
Key Verse: 1 Peter 4:2
2 in order no longer to live in the lusts of men, but in the will of God the remaining time in the flesh.
Devotion:
One thing that we do not too often think about is that Christ actually came to live as a human being. In other words He was here and surrounded by all the same things that we are surrounded by – OK, maybe not exactly the same because we are living a few thousand years on, but the same sort of social and peer pressures and temptations would have surrounded Him as they do us. He was the one that was able to stand up against everything that came His way – so how did He do it?
The first thing that comes to mind is that He was God so He could not sin... but He was a man, born to a woman (albeit a perfect birth). The same temptations that drew others in did not draw Him in; instead He would have been disappointed that the people around Him would give in or would even tempt Him. It is a different way of looking at things – instead of being drawn in by the things around us we need to separate ourselves from them so we can see them for what they are (easier said than done).
The second thing may be that we already given in to sins and have made them a part of our lives, so when more come along we simply accept them rather than reject them to start with. We have allowed that corruption into our lives to such an extent that we no longer see it as a problem.
The third thing is that Christ always stood on the Word of God. He always made sure that God's Word was something to be depended upon and central to His life. If we move toward doing the same we will see a move towards strength to resist the temptations that come our way and guidance for the situation that we face where we do not know the answers. When Satan himself tempted Christ the Word of God was what was used to oppose Him in every temptation. Use God's Word as something that will uphold His will in your life...
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like you are weak?
Are you relying on God's Word too?
