Turn to Good

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.  Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else–what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations–He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16).’ CHAMBERS

Do you see temptation like that?  Not as being tempted to do something wrong, but to remember what is right?  Frankly, I had not.  1 Corinthians 10:13 suggests that temptation is something we need to escape from.  I mean, God gives us a way to escape doesn’t He?  But maybe the way to escape is to turn to something that is good instead of yielding to something that is not good. Think about Jesus in the wilderness.

 

(1 Peter 3:10-12)  “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.  Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

 

Jesus gives us an example of how it’s done in Matthew 4.  Faced with rejecting God, the Father, and trusting in himself, satisfying himself, or worshipping something other than the Father, Jesus turned to what is good .. ‘Man does not live by bread alone .. but by the Word, Do not put the Lord your God to the test, Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’.

 

… I guess it boils down to a trust issue … when you are faced with a temptation or a problem in life .. where is the first place you turn?  To the Lord or to yourself.  Do you grapple with the issue or turn to what is Good.  What is that?  Jesus responded to someone who called Him “good teacher’ in Matthew 19 ….. ‘Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”’

Our immediate response to life depends upon what we have practiced … so it is with temptation.  We can’t ignore God and then expect that when temptation comes that we will choose to focus on good and reject evil.  That is not going to happen.  The only way we are going to turn toward what is good when faced with temptation is if we are abiding in the Vine. So ……….

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)