Me: Howdy Prodigal!
Prodigal: Hey, good to see you again.
Me: That is a rather large shoe.
Prodigal: Only in our consumer driven culture can you find so many types of shoes, even gigantic ones.
Me: Yes shopping can be a real addiction for several Americans and also can be a form of temptation.
Prodigal: Temptation? Please explain.
In the Discipleship Journal printed several years ago a list was printed. Readers were asked to name their strongest temptations.
In order of priority they were:
–Materialism
–Pride
–Self-Centeredness
–Laziness
–Anger/Bitterness (tie)
–Sexual Lust
–Envy
–Gluttony
–Lying
Do you see your struggles from today on that list? I do. For one thing we are not alone in these struggles that we have, and on the other hand Satan has found a list of things that seem to work for a lot of people. I see a lot of people struggle with temptation. The hardest part of my job is when I see people over powered by Satan. It is so sad and the outcome is never good.
Temptation is allowed by God so that our faith may be proven. He wants to see if we do love him and are submitted. Think of your loves ones and friendships. Real friendships and loved ones are based on moving through the tough times. Every lasting relationship has those times. Our relationship with God is the same, we have a deeper meaningful relationships after several times of testing. Of course we should submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee. We also need to be able to recognize temptation when it is in front of us. I see a lot of people who do not recognize temptation or do not take it seriously. Satan was a beautiful angel and so we must remember that temptation often looks very attractive. It looks easy, it looks like the answer. If you had to tell me how Satan temps you and want does it look like. Could you tell me? Could you tell me your top three?
Lastly not all temptations are set you make your life miserable. Some of them is just to take you away from God’s purpose for you life so that you are not a threat to Satan. You can sit in church with your spouse, 2.5 kids, house and never effect the kingdom of God because your purpose was something different or with those things listed but different then what you imagined. The point is that you didn’t do it God’s way but your way and therefore have missed out on God’s best for your life. Recognize those temptations today and run the other way before it snares you and you can’t run!
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
