Enduring Temptation

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
God Watches Over Joseph

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

The Message

 ^1-5Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God's fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God's wonder and grace didn't seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased. ^6-10The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—"First the people partied, then they threw a dance." We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.
 ^11-12These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
 ¹³No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.  

For Reflection
How do you fight temptation?  No one is exempt from the tyranny of temptation.  Temptation does not always arrive during hard times. The most difficult temptations are the ones which creep up on you.  Subtle changes over time are the most difficult to detect.  Sometimes a tiny taste is all it  takes.  Before you realize it, you are caught.  "I can handle a little bit, "  you lie to yourself.  You do not have to handle temptation alone.  When you find yourself engrossed in the ungodly, step away.  Confess your error and turn to god.  There is no shame in being human.  There is only shame in not recognizing your humanity.

Pray
pray that God will lead you from temptation. Pray that you will reject self-confidence for God-confidence.  Pray that you embrace the saving grace that God has promised and walk shamelessly into the light of Gods forgiveness.