Just as Jesus was tempted in the desert, so Satan has and will continue to tempt us. But just as Jesus had a way out, so too, do we. Jesus could have summoned his divine strength, but he chose to combat Satan's attacks with the word of God, the same word that is at our fingertips (I Corinthians 10:13...But when you are tempted, he will...provide a way out...). For me, many times it is at my fingertips, but not at my lips. I pray God will write his words on my heart so that I can be better prepared for Satan's attacks. One of the reasons I like this study is that I feel I will really know the contents of James better when we are done. There are so many verses that are on my heart, but many times, I don't remember where they come from in the Bible. I think studies like this will help. Better yet, why have I stopped my Catechism memorizing? I have always been convicted to be memorizing some Scripture, but I have never succeeded to make it a pattern in my life. This verse from James has renewed my desire.
When we give in to our evil desires, we are not serving God. We are serving Satan's desires. It's kind of scary to think of it that way. I'll never forget the time I read The Screwtape Letters. I didn't even finish the whole book because it was so true! the way the Satan works to skew our thoughts, and it was scary. But we have no need to fear, because God has him on a chain. Coming up in James 3 is a verse reminding us how Satan is flees at the name of Jesus:
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." No, God is not our tempter, he is our all-powerful, ever-present helper, and he will win the battle for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment