Blessings or Temptations?

| By PKD Lee |

1 John 2:15-16 - Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Can we live without any temptation in our lives? That is not possible? Why?

Because we live in a material world, and these material things entice us like Eve was enticed. But, why see material things as enticing us into temptation rather than as blessings given to us by God? Where lies the problem?

Let me give an illustration. You give your child a sweet, and the child thanks you for the same. Now the child wants a sweet and so comes and asks you for one. You do not give the child one, and the child throws a tantrum. Now the sweet have become more important to the child than you!!

When anything material becomes the object of our desire, for whatever reasons, it becomes a temptation to us. In Gen 3:6, it says that “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”

The three desires that acted on Eve were

1) physical, legitimate needs

2) what delighted her

3) standing in society (wisdom).

So, how do we manage these temptations? By making our priorities right, rather than becoming an ascetic. An ascetic deals with these temptations by removing these desires completely and rejecting them, leading to a life without its pleasures.

Instead, we have a clear set of priorities – God first, people second and everything else third. If we do this, we make it possible for us to enjoy things, but not let things come between us and others and between us and God. Whenever we find it usurping the place of God or someone else, we remind ourselves that we do not need these pleasures, but we need God and other people.

When things become more important than God, it is called idolatry and when it becomes more important than people, we see James 4:1-2 working out in our lives.

James 4:1-2 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

So, let material things be just that – blessings from God to be enjoyed and not things to be pursued.

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