DAILY DEVOTIONAL – July 9, 2019
“Playing With Fire”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You know exactly what it means to be tempted. For 40 days you were hungry and without food, thirsty and without water…and all the while tempted by the Devil. Yet, You remained perfectly faithful. We confess Lord, we do not remain faithful. We are sinful and often give into temptations we know we shouldn’t. By Your Spirit, help us to see the things of this world as nothing, so that we may find complete satisfaction in Your presence alone. Help us to deny ourselves so that Your will may be done in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture: Proverbs 6:27-28
Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?
Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
Devotion – “Playing With Fire”
When I was a young boy, I remember my grandfather often warning me against putting myself in situations that could prove to be harmful or dangerous to me. Of course, as a young and immature young man, I was always listening with only one of the two ears God gave me…but one thing my grandfather always used to say still sticks in my mind. Whenever he would caution me against something, he would say, “Careful son, if you play with fire you’re gonna get burned.” You have probably heard that or even said that yourself at one time or another. The point is clear: if you entertain sin and the temptation to sin, if you play with fire, there is no place for shock or surprise when we inevitably get burned. The smallest spark is no less capable of creating an inferno than is an open flame.
All day every day, temptations bombard us. Whether it be the onslaught of sophisticated marketing campaigns and commercials that prey on the brokenness and susceptibility of human desire and ambition, the selfishness of those desires themselves that are always competing for our attention, or the carefully calculated temptations of the devil…the fight to protect our hearts and minds and remain faithful to God and His desires and will for our life is very real and unrelenting.
Much like it only takes a small, fleeting spark to ignite a catastrophic forest fire, the most dangerous temptations we face are the small, inconspicuous ones. After the fall of mankind when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptations of the devil serpent in the Garden of Eden, we see immediately after how the sin that entered their hearts was now being passed to all of their offspring as Cain killed his brother Able. When God confronted Cain about what he had done, God said in Genesis 4:7, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
You see, as God told Cain, the temptation to sin (whether it comes upon us or from within us) does not approach us standing tall with its head high announcing itself and making sure we know it has arrived. No, God said that sin is crouching at the door. The word for crouching used here in the Hebrew has a couple variations in meaning. As is implied in the ESV translation I used for today, sin crouches down on all fours…so as not to be readily noticed, and yet at the same time, it is poised to strike at the perfect time. Think of a lion, crouching down and moving ever so slowly so as to be camouflaged in the tall grass…but also to keep its center of gravity low and his powerful muscles in tension so it can launch after its prey at just the right time.
The other way that this word “crouching” is used in the Hebrew is to communicate laying down, being sprawled out and stretched out. In other words, sin and the temptations to sin are very patient. We may feel like we go through each day in a hurried blur, however, sin knows how to take its time and wait for when we are the most susceptible.
No wonder Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
As you and I have no doubt learned time and again, as watchful and careful and alert as we may be, in our sinfulness we are too weak to resist all the temptations that bombard us and attempt to pull us away from living faithfully before God. If left to our own ability to stand firm, we would be left without hope and still separated from God just as Adam and Eve and Cain had to be because of their sin. However, the Good News is that God has not left it up to us. Just after we read of Cain murdering Able, we read of how God faithfully provided Adam and Eve with another son, Seth; the son through whom the promise of a Messiah would eventually come and be realized in Jesus Christ. As God promised Adam and Ever, Christ has overcome sin, death and the devil through His sacrifice on the cross and through His resurrection. Although neither Cain nor you or I have proven to be able to rule over sin and our sinful nature, Christ has ruled over sin, and has forgiven sin in His body and blood.
We are no doubt forgiven freely by grace through faith in Christ, however, that doesn’t mean we are free from temptation, or the consequences of sin when we give in to temptation. The only hope we have of resisting temptation and standing firm in the faith is to cling to the One who is the author and perfecter of our faith; Jesus Christ. We do that by clinging to His Word and by denying ourselves and allowing His will to rule over our life, so that we may be able to rule over sin.
Another major way we resist temptation, is by refusing to entertain temptation…by refusing to put ourselves or allow ourselves to be put into circumstances that we know are not in keeping with God’s Word and our faith in Christ.
Our Proverb for today couldn’t put it any more clearly.
Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?
Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
There is another saying I hear quite often…it’s not one my grandfather said to me…but I am sure it is one you have no doubt heard and maybe even said. “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Not only is that not in the Bible, it just is not true my friends. I know most people say this in an attempt to comfort someone in their time of need, but believe me friends, it doesn’t help. The truth is, we can’t handle much at all. What we should say is “God will never give you more than HE can handle.”
The passage people are thinking about when they say this is in 1 Corinthians 10:13 where Paul says, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Who did Paul say provides the way of escape when we are tempted? God does, because we can’t escape it on our own. This is also why Paul says in Ephesians 6, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” And what is the armor of God? Paul continues and says, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Let us arm ourselves with and draw near to the love and mercy and presence of God who is indeed with us, so that we may faithfully endure, walking with Jesus every step so as to let His light shine in the darkness. God bless you friends, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
