What Tempts You? Number 2- The James Sequence

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15


Temptations. I’m not talking about silly stuff like eating decadent chocolate or buying another pair of shoes. I’m talking about temptations that deal with the real you and those places in your heart and soul that nobody knows about.

What goes on inside that inner part of you that, if told, would blow people away? What are you thinking in your head that if uttered by mouth would sink your spiritual reputation in an instant? Don’t tell me you don’t have these thoughts because we all know better.

There’s that person you just wish would disappear and you wouldn’t have to deal with again. The really pretty girl that grabs the attention of a married man when he least expects it and those angry words on the tip of your tongue just waiting to be said.

The natural man wants to sin—that’s a given. It’s what we as Christians do with those urges and temptations that call us to attention in front of a holy, reverent God. A friend of mine said that men are born to look; it doesn’t mean they want it, they just look. Satan can do a lot with that look. It can turn into something that grows and is fed by lust. That lust has ruined many marriages and families over the centuries. Is that your temptation?

Satan’s desire is that the temptation he lays before you will draw you away from a holy God. He creates that temptation in the form of another human being, a gambling habit you can’t break, the insatiable desire to have the biggest, best, most expensive of…something. Whatever he sees in you that is hidden in that inner part of your heart and soul that is not God-like, He expands it right in front of you and makes it so enticing the urge to resist flees.

Don’t forget about the last part of that verse either. “When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” Many of us think things in our heads and hearts that never come out. We never allow Satan the upper hand and let the temptation metastasize. But…(that little word), when we DO, we’re sinning and sin brings death. The Bible says physical death and (I’m thinking) death of your testimony before others. Death of relationships long nurtured. Death of God’s perfect plan for your life.

THANK GOD for salvation, forgiveness, a loving God! Without His accepting love covering our mistakes we would be sunk. Thank you, Jesus, for making a way of escape from Satan’s tempting snares.