In the 1960’s a singing group came to Motown Records to ask for a record deal. Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, told them to come up with a name that was irresistible. What did they come up with? The Temptations! And the rest is R & B history!
Temptation can be so irresistible, can’t it? Temptation has been around since Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. What is its source? Pride! Wanting what you think you have a right to. It is so seductive that it causes us to say things like “I’ve got to have this!”
Marketing companies don’t help the situation. They are so shrewd. They appeal to our desires in their ads. My husband has a saying: “If you keep hanging around the barber shop, eventually you’re going to get a haircut.” And if you keep looking at the corn shucking commercial, eventually you will desire a corn shucker, you won’t know how you have lived this long without one, and all you can think about is the many ways you can use the beautiful corn that you shucked yourself! Or maybe your thing is shoes or handbags or you fill in the blank. We all experience desire that can lead to temptation.
And desire is not a bad thing. God put it in us – a godly desire.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
But when desire takes its eyes off of God, it turns into a demand and now, “I must have this!” At that point, temptation has a hold on you. Take the story of Cain, Adam and Eve’s son, who killed his brother Abel out of his own pride and desire. But God had warned him about sin’s desire in advance:
6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Genesis 4:6-7
Sin’s desire, the devil’s desire, is to get us to turn away from God. And one of the tools that he uses is temptation. Enticing our human desires and passions. We begin to think about the desire more and more, we can’t get our minds off of it, we can’t live without it, and eventually we convince ourselves that we’ve got to have it. The desire birthed into a demand that birthed into a need. And once you’ve named it as a need, it has you! Temptation is born.
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13a
Friends, the devil has no new tricks! That temptation that you’re fighting is a common one. That means it’s one that you can overcome. If you think about it, there was a way out of that thing. Change the TV station, don’t accept that invitation to the party, don’t hang around people who like to do what you are trying to stop doing… And just as in Cain’s story, there was an opportunity to change your mind. God put it there!
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13b
There has been a way out of that thing all along. God saw the road that you were on. But your mind was focused on the wrong thing. You made a conscious decision at the intersection of desire and discipline to look away from God and go your own way, many times leading to hurt and destruction.
Friends, we’ve got to get our focus back. Back on the One who always makes a way out of no way, even when there seems to be no way out. What is your mind focused on today? What is your soul’s desire? King David’s desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord for forever.
One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.
Psalm 27:4
Ruth’s desire wasn’t Boaz, but to cling to the one whose God had become her God, Naomi.
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
Ruth 1:16-17
As I watched the Olympics competitions, I was struck by the athletes’ ability to overcome temptation. In the gymnastics arena, all of the rotations are going on at the same time. That means the floor exercise and their music is going on while someone is competing on the balance beam, while someone else is on the uneven bars or the vault. What focus they had to have! And then I saw the gyms where they trained. And the same thing was happening. See, they trained in an environment that was much like the temptation that they would face at the Olympics. So, when they competed on the biggest stage of their lives, they were prepared for temptation.
Friends, when your desire is set; when you want Jesus more than anything else, you will be able to overcome any temptation that comes your way because you’re not doing it in your own strength, but in the strength of the One who always provides a way out!
What do you desire more than anything? Let’s talk about it on Sunday as we continue the Olympics sermon series, GT 2024: Winning the Race Over Temptation!
See you on Sunday!
Vision for 2024:
A House United:
Strong Faith, Strong Families, Strong Future!
Blessings,
Pastor Linda
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