Pastor Chris’ Corona Quarantine Epistles to the Flock of AIC Ngong Road, in Dispersion and Isolation. 44th. Edition.
Dear Conquerors,
Welcome to our daily devotional in the book of James. You may have noted yesterday, as we looked at 1:9-11, that I referred to James as Paul. Forgive my trespasses! We examine verses 12-16. This deals with temptation. The word translated temptation here is the same word translated trials in verse 2. The context is what informs the distinction. If you look up the two verses in the Kiswahili Bible, or in most of our vernacular translations, you will note that the same word ( majaribu in Kiswahili) is used in both instances.
Trials also can be temptations. The difference is in the desired outcome. In trials, God wants to perfect us (v. 4); in temptation, the enemy wants us to sin (v. 15). Endurance (v. 12). We are often advised to flee temptation, and rightly so. However, many times there is no way to flee. Temptation clings to us like a leech and we can only resist. This is the thought we find, also, in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Although it talks about a way of escape, the keyword here is “bear,” a synonym of enduring. Sometimes that secretary with nice legs, the boss with irresistible charm, the government official waiting for a bribe to award a tender, the spouse who keeps doing annoying things – knowingly, will not go away.
We have to endure and resist. The reward is the blessing of the “Crown of Life.” This crown is also promised to the church of Smyrna in Revelation 2:10, if they are faithful to death, in the face of tribulation. There are different crowns promised in the Bible. We can look at them as citations of honor when we graduate from this life. The crown of life is reserved for “those who love him,” because, at the end of the day, temptation seeks to lure us away from God. This echoes the words of the song by Dallas Holm, “Don’t say that you love him, then live like you don’t.” Evasion (v. 13). James warns us not to pass the buck when it comes to sin. We cannot and should not attribute temptation to God. Some of us will say that if God does not want us to sin, he will take the temptation away, that he brought us into the situation, or put the desire in our hearts.
That verges on blasphemy! God is good, purely so. He cannot be tempted to do evil – his nature (goodness) and evil are mutually exclusive. Likewise, God cannot tempt with evil. Let each of us carry his/her own cross! Enticement (vv. 14-16). The downward trajectory of sin begins with Desire (v. 14). The sinful nature in us desires expression. That is why self-control is so critical for a Christian. Desire matures when it is not checked and gives birth to Deviation(v. 15), sin. Sin is a deviation from the right path, a departure from the good into evil. It may not appear so, and I often hear people argue that it is not a sin if it doesn’t hurt anyone. That is a foolish fallacy. How do you know that it will not hurt anyone? Some of the damage caused by sin does not show itself until years, decades, lifetimes, later. When sin is left unchecked, the result is Death (v. 15).
The Bible clearly says that the “wages of sin are death,” (Romans 6:23). Adam was warned that the day he ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die (Genesis 2:17). The day he and Eve ate, they died. Their death was spiritual, a separation from God, the ultimate of which is the “lake of fire… the second death” (Revelation 20:14). But Adam and Eve did eventually die physically, as we all do. This too is a consequence of sin. Even in this life, sin causes physical death quite often. Drunk and drug-high drivers kill themselves and others, sinful lifestyles often result in chronic conditions that eventually kill, some deadly, sexually transmitted infections thrive where promiscuity is rife; the list is endless.
Friends, sin kills! This is why we should be alert to Deception (v. 16). Sin looks attractive and harmless but “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” (Proverbs 14:12). The attraction of sin is anchored in deception. Do not be deceived!
Your loving Pastor Chris.