Temptation sounds like such a strong word. Temptation makes me think of really bad things, blatant things. I figure I must only deal with temptation once a week, or something like that. But in reality, temptation comes knocking on me daily -- the temptation to be proud, the temptation to talk about others, the temptation for more stuff, the temptation to lose my patience when I think I have to deal with things myself rather than asking God for help. Temptation is a daily battle for me, as I imagine it is for all of us when we stop and think about it.
For the next few days, we will be studying temptation. Let's start with the introduction:
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Here's where I ask myself, "What happened?!" These people, the Israelites, saw miracles! Incredible miracles! God parted the sea for them to escape their enemies, He provided food that literally fell from the sky so they would not starve, and He provided water for them to drink...from a rock! How could people who got to witness first-hand the obvious miracles of God end up denying Him in the end? One word: temptation. They fell prey to their own desires during the hard times in the desert, and it cost them their lives. Let's not be quick to point fingers (I can say this because I'm always pointing fingers at the Israelites, and forgetting that they are me sometimes because I act like them!). They fell prey to their own desires, it cost them their very lives, and without Christ and my surrendering to Him, there go I!
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did —and were killed by the destroying angel. Notice that this is recorded as an example to us. Isn't that what the Bible is? It's hundreds of powerful examples of what to do and what not to do, among other things, but here is one very powerful example for us! Notice it says that some of them were idolaters, not all, so it is possible to be set apart even when everyone around you is falling. But of the ones who were idolaters, their fate was not idyllic.
Now, let's get one thing straight here before we go on. Idols. No, we do not bow down to golden figures or dance in front of a wooden post when we want something. But, as I've mentioned before, one of my favorite books on idols of today is written by Timothy Keller entitled Counterfeit Gods, and perhaps he can help us with this foreign word. What is an idol? "It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give." It could be a person, a relationship, an activity, a position, our beauty, our brains, our families, a political or social cause, peer approval. An idol has such control in your heart that you can spend most of your passion, energy, emotional and financial resources on it without a second thought! And you know it has become a counterfeit god when is has become "so central and essential to your life that, should you lost it, your life would feel hardly worth living."
Some of the Israelites' idols, according to these verses, were wanting their own way, turning religion into just another party (our relationship with Christ is so much more meaningful than that), sexual promiscuity, and thinking that God should serve us! I'm sure power, greed, and an attitude of self-serving were all in there as well, because that is our human condition.
So, the Israelites had idols. We have idols. Let's not think that we don't. Our idols are constantly vying for our attention, and unless we begin to give them the type of attention and work that they require to put them in their correct place, they will consume us, as they did many of the Israelites. God told us that above all things we should have no other gods before Him, and He takes that command very seriously. There is truly nothing else that will satisfy us the way He does and can. We will just be running the rat race, seeking to find fulfillment until we turn to Him...and He knows that. He created us that way, but He won't force us to turn to Him.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! Wow, Paul said it again. These are examples for us. Another warning that we could become like them. But we do have the choice, do we not? Our positions in God's story are parallel: they were at the beginning of the age, and we are at the end. And we are just as capable of messing up as they were, so we must not be so self-confident to think that we would never behave as they did. I'm sure if you read my daily thoughts on a ticker-tape, it would be quite obvious that I am just like them! Instead of self-confidence, let me rely on my confidence in God -- without Him, I am nothing, and only He will give me the desires that my heart should desire.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Here is one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible. First of all, the temptations we face are not subtle...they overtake us at times. I have been in situations where I really think someone has suddenly taken the wheel of my desires and actions. I have felt completely overtaken before! And none of these feelings and situations are new -- they are common to mankind. Common. They are not some fluke. The temptations you are currently facing have been around for ages. In Ezekiel 14:3 (thousands of years ago, during the time of pagan idol worship, God saw that it was not the statues that were a problem), "These men have set up their idols in their hearts." Idols are a universal, human problem.
But even amidst that, here's the good news... God is faithful. He is faithful even when we are not! And the promise is that He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, because He will always provide a way out! I have found this to be 100% true in my own life. Sometimes I see the way out and I run to it, and sadly, other times, I have seen the way out and chosen to linger for a while in my feelings of the moment and been overtaken. Severe consequences always follow.
But the promise is that He will provide a way out. Every time. Watch for it, and then choose to RUN to it...don't delay, or you will be overtaken.
As we begin to acknowledge the idols of our hearts, I urge you to be mindful of what is taking up most of your thought-life today, your energy, and your time? Ask God if it has become an idol in your life, and if it has, confess it to someone! It takes effort on our part to remove what has been seated on the throne of our lives and put it back in its proper place, but I assure you you will find freedom in doing so. I'm working on this with you, my friend. I want the LORD to be the one and only God in my life! Help us, Lord. We just want You. Help us.
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