Christian Devotional - Sin's Allure

Sin. The ugly dirty truth about sin is that it never
looks ugly or dirty while we’re in the moment and considering it. Why does sin
entice us so strongly? What is it about the allure of sin that we choose it
over obeying our loving God?




Did you know that temptations have categories? That’s
right. Really, all the temptations that you or I will face can fall into one or
more of three categories that we’re going to look at today: the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.



1 John 2:15-16 “Do not love the world, nor the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”



This set of verses has always intrigued me, and even more
when a pastor I heard compared it to the original sin of Eve, back in Genesis. There,
Eve has been approached by Satan masquerading as a serpent. She’s been told to
eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and she will become
like God. So what does Eve ponder in her mind? Genesis 3:6 says “When the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and
that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;
and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”



Yep, Eve saw that fruit was good for food (lust of the
flesh) and it was a delight to the eyes (lust of the eyes) and the tree was
desirable to make one wise (boastful pride of life). That one hit all three
categories. Think back over the Bible stories you remember. Each temptation
that the person faced fell into one of those three categories. Here are just a
couple of examples:



Cain and Abel – Boastful pride of life (Genesis 4:3-8)
David and Bathsheba – lust of the flesh and lust of the
eyes (2 Samuel 11:2)

Judas betraying Jesus – lust of the flesh (Matthew
26:14-16)

Ananias and Sapphira – lust of the flesh and boastful
pride of life (Acts 5:1-11)




Even the temptations of Jesus can be categorized with
these three. Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones to bread (lust of the flesh)
and to throw himself from the temple and be saved by angels (boastful pride of
life), and finally to look all around Him and everything He saw would be his if
He would just bow to Satan (lust of the eyes). (Matthew 4:1-11)



So what do we do about this? How do we combat the
temptations that Satan is going to use to try and trip us up? Well, looking
back at those verses in 1 John, we see that we are to love God, not the world.
If we love the world, then we will be easily swayed by all that the world seems
to offer. We must realize that when we are being tempted, it will fall into one
of these areas and that Jesus has already overcome these three areas. In 1
Corinthians 10:13 Paul tells us that “No temptation has overtaken you but such
as is common to man, and God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted
above what you are able and with the temptation will provide the way of escape
also, so that you will be able to endure it.”



There is always a way of escape from temptation. It may
not always be an easy way and you may not like it at the time, but it’s
certainly there. Knowing and using God’s Word is the key as that is how Jesus
overcame the temptations. Always be looking for that way of escape. For me this
week, I made a wrong choice. I was faced with a temptation and I chose to
follow the boastful pride of life. I was not showing the love of the Father to
Him or to those around me who were hurt by the choices that I made. Sin always
looks nicer and neater and prettier before you do it than after, I assure you.
Thankfully God forgives and has cleansed me as He promised. He promises to do the same for you as well.



I say this to urge each of you to be aware of what sin
looks like and how Satan will appeal to you to get you to stray from what you
know you should do. Let God’s love dwell in you and show through you in all
that you do and remember that there is always a way out when you are faced with
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes or the boastful pride of life.

 
Kristi Burchfiel, Christian devotional author and speaker

Living in the World – Living out the Word

Check out my website and daily devotions either on my blog or on my Facebook page



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