11 October 2005 Devotion for Today “Who’s to Blame?” James 1:12-16
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” James 1:12-16
The story is told of the somewhat overweight individual who was on his way to work one morning when the overwhelming urge to stop at the donut shop began to set in on him. As he approached the shop, he began to pray, fighting off the temptation saying, “Dear Lord, I know you don’t want me to stop at the donut shop today, so I need a sign of encouragement from you. Please don’t let there be a parking place available when I drive by and then I’ll know you are helping me fight this temptation.”
The prayer worked, at least for a while until-after about ten trips around the donut shop- someone left the man an empty parking place in front of the donut shop!
Temptation. People say you can’t fight it, so why not just give in to it. Why not just do it if thinking about it is as bad. If it feels good, do it. You only go around once in this life, so why not go for all the gusto that you can! These and other statements underscore the lack of responsibility we have for resisting the temptations that face us. The fallacy in the thinking is that someone other than ourselves is responsible for tempting us and therefore we are not to be blamed. The first One people consider for blaming their temptations upon is God. James says, however, that we cannot blame God. Some will reason- if God gave us these desires within our flesh-then why should we be held responsible for them.
James gives us some proofs why God is never responsible for temptation.
The first is found within the nature of God. God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone. The Greek literally says God is inexperienced in evil. His holy, perfect, sinless nature makes it impossible for Him to be influenced by evil or to influence others with evil.
Then we look at the nature of man. The real culprit in temptation is not the temptation without but the traitor within. Note the emphasis on the nature of man in the way James develops the anatomy of temptation. Temptation keys on a problem within ourselves. James identifies it as desire. It is the desire of our own hearts. In this context it is clearly speaking of evil desire. Temptation, keying on the desire in our hearts, does two things. It drags us away. This is a hunting term that pictures an animal being lured into a trap by its own instinctual desire for the bait. Next, Temptation entices us. This term is used to describe a fish being lured to the hook by the bait. Temptation lures us and then traps us.
Then note how individually oriented temptation is. James says that “each one” is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by “his own” evil desire. We all have our own individual proclivities and weaknesses that are targeted by the Tempter. What might be a problem for you may not be a problem for me, and vice-versa. Even as I am saying this, you are probably thinking of your areas of vulnerability right now. You can identify those areas of desire where you are constantly battling temptation. Why is that? Because the tempter is an experienced fisherman. He knows exactly what kind of bait to tie on and throw to awaken the sinful desires in your soul. The key to fighting this temptation is not the willpower to keep the bait from bothering us, but to stay away from the fisherman altogether! A fish may blame the fisherman for getting caught on a hook, but he ends up being fried just the same!
Have a blessed day!
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