Sunday Reading: Proverbs 2:16-20
Key Verse: Proverbs 2:19
19 All who go in to her do not return, nor do they take hold of the paths of life,
Devotion:
Being enticed by another person to go and do something that is not normal for you may well sound like fun or like an adventure, but unless you know what you will be getting up to you will want to think twice before you go. Yes we do like to go on adventures when we do not know the physical things that we will be doing but when those things are spiritual in nature we have to wonder if they lead to Christ or to destruction. Every one of us will face someone in life who wants to tempt us in a bad way; unless we are going to uphold God’s Word and compare what they ask to that we may well fall into a very deep trap.
We don’t only have to look at sexual temptation here because there are many things in life that will do as much damage as that. Some may not look at taking a second partner as anything but a bit of fun but those moments that you share together are fixed in your life forever; they cannot be rewound or erased. Yes God can forgive them if you are truly willing to admit to them and ask for forgiveness, but you know that they will still be there and may well be eating away at your soul.
Any temptation that is going to remove us from God should be viewed in the same light. We may get intense pleasure from those few seconds that we have but when the realisation starts to sink in about what we have done, the gnawing away at our souls starts. We do not have to go there in the first place. We do have the choice. We don’t have to give in. We do have God on our side and He is willing to strengthen us and guide us away from those temptations so long as we are willing to trust in Him. That is the big thing; having the will and courage to trust in God instead of trusting in the loose, idle and even evil words of those around us that will be used to tempt us away from our God.
Points to Ponder:
What do you give in to?
Do you get your strength from being with God?
