“Be thoroughly acquainted with your temptations, especially those that your company or business lays before you.” –Richard Baxter
Most of the trouble we have with sin in our life does not really occur in the moment we submit to its power. The real trouble takes place hours, days, weeks, or months before the transgression. The issue is not so much the act of sin, but rather, the unwillingness to sanctify our desires before the sin happens. Benjamin Franklin said, “What makes resisting temptation so difficult for many people is they don’t want to discourage it completely.”
Discouraging temptation completely is the key to living a consecrated life. It is true, there are some temptations that come upon us that we have no control over. However, many times we place ourselves in situations because we have failed to bring our desires into submission of the Holy Spirit. This is what James had in mind when he warned, “But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed” (James 1:14).
Jerry Bridges contends, “Every time we give in to a temptation, even though it may seem small and insignificant to us, we make it easier to give in the next time. Sin has a tendency to exert an ever-increasing power on us if it is not resisted on every occasion.” The remedy is to yield every desire, in advance, to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
http://roi-mi.com/resources Daily Reading: Psalms 55-60
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