Glad you are back! This series of Advent devotionals on God’s “I WILL” promises is my own Christmas gift to you!
As a child, were you ever tempted to get a sneak preview of what was hiding under the Christmas tree? Did you shake a gift to see if it contained a new Lego set? Or did the wrapping paper somehow tear a wee bit, just enough to reveal the contents of the package? Those colorful packages with their bright bows made it hard to resist temptation!
When God inspired Paul to write a letter to Corinth, he may have had you in mind! In 1 Cor. 10:13, we read: “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” Again, in Revelation 3:10, God wrote to his people saying, “I will keep you from the hour of testing.”
The Lord promises a way to escape temptation. The problem is that all too often we ignore the way of escape. Or we make up arguments that justify our giving in to temptation. Worse, sometimes we don’t even bother with an excuse. We simply give in, like me eating Christmas cookies. That is why, as Jesus prayed in the Garden before his arrest, he reminded the disciples, “Pray that you will not be overcome by temptation.” (Luke 22:40,46)
This Christmas, we may no longer be shaking gifts to guess at their contents, but we all still face temptations. Take a moment today to reflect on the Lord’s Prayer, especially the part where it says, “Don’t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
