TAKE THE WAY OUT
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. 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 endure it.
Have you ever felt unworthy, undeserving or just dirty, because you have been tempted? I'm not talking about giving in to temptation, just because you were temped? Don't allow yourself to accept the lie that you are something less because you were temped. Even Christ had temptation come to Him (Matthew 4:1).
One morning, several years ago, a friend texted me and told me he was turkey hunting and someone near him shot a turkey from the window of their vehicle. Not only is this illegal, it's extremely unsportsmanlike... It's called "road hunting", but it has nothing to do with hunting... It's poaching.
Two hours later, as I was walking back from a hunt, I watched four gobblers walk into the woods near my vehicle. I had been calling to these birds for two hours, with little success. I saw right where they went into the woods and a thought popped into my head, "I bet I could just drive past them and shoot one.". Now, I've never done that and don't believe I ever would. But the temptation was there. What did I do? I got to my truck, unloaded my gun and put it totally out of reach, in the box of my truck. And sure enough, there was a really big gobbler right there where I thought they would be as I drove out.
If we don't feel like we're ever being tempted one of two things is happening, either we have gotten so far from Christ that we no longer recognize sin as sin and we give in to temptation without thinking. Or, we don't have a relationship with Christ in the first place and we don't care. But make no mistake, if you are a child of God, you will be tempted.
The Bible says we need to flee temptation. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 Paul writes, "Be alert. Continue strong in the faith. Have courage, and be strong". To "be alert" means to know what tempts you so that you can stay away from it.
In order to make it easier to avoid temptation there two things you need to stay away from... tempting situations and tempting associations, meaning certain people.
Pastor, John Baker, says, "If you hang around the barber shop long enough, you're going to get a haircut." so avoid the places and people where you are being tempted.
If you are continually being tempted in a situation or by a person, flee. Don't stand there and fight it, RUN.
Remember in 1 Corinthians 10:13 included this, "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 endure it."
It promises a "way out"... He will provide a door to escape. Find the door, don't walk through it, run through it!
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