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Lead Us Not into Temptation


This post was written by Bessie Wilson.

As Christians, we can say with the Scriptures that temptation is something that our Lord provided for. He did so in the Lord’s prayer. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). Prayer accompanied by our obedience will keep us out of a lot of areas of temptation that some of us are fooling around with.

“These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19 KJV).

A proud look. The NIV renders this “haughty eyes.” In Japanese, it’s taki-buri, which is “high-nosed.” Are ever you tempted to have a high nose? A haughtiness because of your hometown, your college, your forebears, or your race? If you have this proud look, somewhere along the line there was a temptation you did not resist.

A lying tongue. This one is repeated in the list; the second-to-last is “a false witness who pours out lies.” How many lies are told among the Christian community! And not just little white lies, but big prevarications. You can lie about where you’re supposed to be, where you have been, about your responsibilities. You can lie about other people and destroy someone’s reputation in so doing.

The temptation to lie comes to all of us. Do you have to teach a child how to lie? No. You have to teach him how to tell the truth. Lying comes naturally; it takes the new birth to cure you. But just as a Christian can be tempted to adultery or fornication, you can be tempted to lie.

When he was in the navy, my husband once told a lie to a senior officer on board a destroyer. As soon as he told it, the officer knew he had lied. The man asked him a second time if he had done the task he’d been commanded to do, and Jim lied a second time and told him it was done. Then he went away and tried to get victory by reciting his memory verses and singing hymns. He didn’t get any victory until he went back to his commanding officer and admitted that he had lied.

Lies can be forgiven, but the habit of having a lying tongue is the deadliest thing I know. If you are convicted about it, seek out spiritual help for it. I know people who lied so consistently that I could never tell when they were telling the truth. The funny thing about lying is that you can do it so long and so well that even you end up convinced that it’s truth—“deceived and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:3).

Hands that shed innocent blood. This includes abortion.

A heart that devises wicked schemes; feet that are quick to rush into evil…and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. God hates a person who goes around stirring up the Christian community and making people hate each other by repeating what one person says to another. Love covers a multitude of sins.

 

This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the To the Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan, please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

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