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A Closer Walk

Does temptation play a role in our day to day Christian walk? Are there things that our Heavenly Father allows to come our direction that might tempt us to stray from the desired path? Temptation was certainly brought before Je- sus, God's only begotten Son.

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil," Matthew 4:1 NASB. Jesus didn't accidentally stumble into the wilderness. He was led there by the Holy Spirit. Nor was it a coincidence that He was there. And He was led there by the Holy Spirit spe- cifically to be tempted by the devil. Temptation came into His life deliberately, allowed by the hand of Almighty God. Why would this happen? What purpose could this serve?

Well, after this period of temptation, what happened next? Jesus began His earthly ministry. Is it possible then, that if temptation does cross our path, our Heav- enly Father has something in mind for us? Before we try to answer that question, let's distinguish between Spirit led temptation, self inflicted temptation, and inadvertent temptation (these are my own made up terminology). The Scripture clearly and succinctly says that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. No doubt He was there at God's direction. This was defi- nitely Spirit led temptation.

Self inflicted temptation would come from us being somewhere we probably shouldn't be. Or hanging out with people we probably shouldn't hang out with. This would allow us to be exposed to situations, or people, that aren't necessarily desirable for us. "Do not be deceived; Bad com- pany corrupts good morals," 1 Corinthians 15:33 NASB. So, self inflicted temptation likely would come from us be- ing in situations, or with people, we probably shouldn't be. And like driving thirty miles per hour over the speed limit, there could be consequences.

With inadvertent temptation, we may in our human- ness, be tempted by many earthly things, even though we are not actively seeking after those things. "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world...For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world," 1 John 2:15-16 NASB. Dealing with worldly things is something we cannot escape. We are here. In the world. And the world, and its temptations, are all around us. They may beset us on a daily basis. So we navigate through these things and this world with the hope that we are being faithful to our God as we go.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He was successful in resisting the temptations thrown at Him by quoting Scripture. After this He began His earthly ministry. So, if we are able to resist the temptations that may assail us, does that mean that we will have a bigger, or better, ministry ourselves? In my opinion, that is a certain and very definite maybe. But, if we are successful in resisting or overcoming, we might give our God a reason to smile.

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