“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it… What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death.” (Romans 7:15, 18-20, 24)
Food For Thought: Huh? Did you catch that? What in the world is he saying?
Paul had a complex way of saying something pretty simple, which was simply this: “I do what I shouldn’t and I don’t do what I should—man, am I in trouble!”
Can you relate to Paul? I sure can. He was in a wrestling match with sin, and sin was whupping up on him. It was frustrating, because Paul knew what he shouldn’t be doing—but he was drawn to sin like a bug to a bug zapper. Think about those poor little bugs—they see the bottom of the zapper littered with the bodies of their bug buddies, yet they fly into the light anyway. They just can’t help themselves—ZZZZZZZZAP!
Kind of like us, huh! We’re lured into the light, even though others have gone before us and we’ve witnessed the aftermath of the great zzzzzap! Yet we blindly go into the light, lured by temptation, doing what we know we shouldn’t, and zzzzzzzzap!
Let me ask you this: Where are you most vulnerable to temptation? What represents the zzzzzzzaper light in your world? Do you know what that area is for you? Where in your life do you do what you know you shouldn’t do and don’t do what you know you should do?
I don’t know what your weakness is, but I’ll tell you one of mine: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies—especially in dough form. I could eat a whole box of those cookies in a heartbeat. And if they haven’t been cooked yet, what out!
What’s your cookie? Maybe it’s a box of Krispy Kremes—perhaps you are an overeater. Maybe it’s the letters S-A-L-E—perhaps you’re an overspender. Maybe it’s an adult-site on the Internet or liquid in a bottle—perhaps you’ve got a compulsion for porn, or alchohol or drugs or gambling. Maybe it’s the joy of passing judgment on other cookie eaters—perhaps you’ve got a critical spirit, you’re a gossip or a griper.
Each of us have an area—we’re drawn to the zapper, we can’t resist the cookie dough, we do what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should. “What a wretched man—or woman—I am! Who will rescue me from the zapper?”
Jesus will! That’s what Paul said in the very next verse, verse 25 of Romans 7: “Thanks be to God—it’s through Jesus Christ our Lord!” When Jesus died, he broke the power of sin, so it no longer has a hold on us. Through the power of the resurrection, he has provided a way out from under every temptation:
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (I Corinthians 10:13)
Did you catch that? Your battle with temptation is winnable. The last part of the verse says, “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out.” That’s good news. There’s always an escape hatch with sin—always. When you’re tempted, God himself will provide a way out…God will make a way.
Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil” because it’s inevitable that evil will tempt us. But it’s not inevitable that evil will defeat us, because God has limited it; he has made sure that there’s a way out from every temptation we face—no matter what it is! God has provided a door—but I must look for it and walk through it!
What are those escape routes? There are plenty, but scripture talks a lot about but let me just mention two or three:
The first way of escape is to saturate yourself in Scripture. Psalm 119:9 & 11says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word…I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” In fact, that’s how Jesus, himself, battled temptation in the wilderness. Every time the tempter came at him with something that would tear him away from his Father’s will, Jesus came back at Satan with the truth of scripture. There is no more potent weapon against temptation in your life than in reading systematically, meditating daily, and memorizing strategically God’s Word.
The second escape route from temptation is to become accountable to another believer, especially for your particular weakness. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We’re not going to beat that cookie dough problem on our own. Remember, we’ve got an enemy who is bigger, wiser, more unrelenting that we are. And he’s incredibly good at deception. He is called ‘the deceiver” after all because he’s pretty good at it. And his deception works best in your life if it’s in the dark. That’s why we need to bring our temptation into the light of accountability to other people—as difficult as that may be. Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”
With whom are you accountable for your weakness? Who knows about your cookie-dough problem? If you can’t name someone, then start praying right now for that person. Be accountable—that’s one of those “ways out” Paul talked about..
And the third way out is to ask God to deliver you daily from the tempter. Jesus taught us to pray this daily prayer that acknowledges both our weakness and our need for divine power in this area: Deliver us from the evil one. You know, the amazing thing is, God hears those prayers. And he provides a way out.
Who will rescue you from this body of death, from the zapper, from the cookie dough? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ the Lord!
Prayer: Father, who dwells in the heavenlies, as close as the very oxygen I breathe in moment by moment, I praise your name. May your will be done completely in my life today—including keeping me pure and sin-free. Today I ask that you will deliver me from the evil that the Evil One will tempt me with. I ask this so that I might bring glory and honor and praise to your holy name.
One more thing… “Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them nest in our hair.” —Martin Luther
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.