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A Morning View By the Wood Stove

Temptation is like my beard. 

I shave and have a smooth face. Sometimes though there are spots with really small stubble, which take away total smoothness. By evening there is a significant amount of stubble but still looks nice. I can even go two days without shaving, but it begins to show. Sometimes I get tired of shaving and I let it completely go and fill in to become a full beard. I am able to make a full beard look nice if it is well manicured and reasonable in length. In fact it can look really good. 

Temptation keeps coming back in the same way. If I resist and keep it shaved down I have a more smooth life. There may be some small temptations but more easily overcome. If I do not battle temptation well by evening it can look become easier to think about. Let it go for a day and it can become easy to justify why just a little would be alright. When I allow temptation to steep in my soul for a long time it starts to look pretty good and it becomes easy to rationalize maybe just one time. Then it becomes real easy and comfortable to just give in and let it grow into a full blown sin. If it is handled correctly and kept well manicured it can actually be made to look nice from the outside and justifiable from the inside. 

You fill in the blank for the temptation of choice. It may be food or it may be worse. But temptation is temptation and I need to better practice fleeing from it! 

“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” - 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NLT 


Peace,

PB

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