Thought for Friday 11 June

Thought for Friday 11 June 1 Corinthians 10: 13 NIVUK   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.   There is not a person alive who hasn’t been tempted in some way, more than once. If you say you haven’t, you lie! Temptation is not only about obvious sin. I know I am tempted daily. For instance, I think ‘I could eat that biscuit, nobody would know’. At least until I got my diabetic HBA1C test, which shows how many times I’ve cheated in the past 3 months. In a roundabout way I will have sinned by cheating, even if it’s only myself I’m hurting, so you see this temptation was only about the biscuit in the first place but it would lead to sin. Mind you, I wish that was the only temptation I faced daily. I am really glad that God does help when asked. No matter what the temptation, it often it leads to sin. Are you tempted to take a day off work? Will you phone your boss and say you can’t be bothered with work today, or will you lie and say you are sick? Are you tempted to say something cost less (or more) than it actually did? Did you forget something you should have bought, did you say they didn’t have it? Of course, not all temptations lead to sin. If we are tempted to join a self-help group for instance or to help someone else would that be sinful? I personally don’t think so as long as your motives are honest. Allowing yourself to be tempted is very tempting but it doesn’t matter how innocent things seem, there is a real possibility it might lead to sin in some way. There is a way out though! In today’s bible passage we are told that God will not let us be tempted beyond our endurance, He will give us a way to reject the voice in our head that tells us to do what we know is wrong. It is easy to give in to temptation. It’s just easier (at least for me) to ask God for help than to ask His forgiveness, even though both requests would be answered. Prayer Ever present Father, we are told so often in scripture that you are always there for us so why is it sometimes so hard for us to ask for Your help? We know that we can’t live this life without Your help but too often we try to go it alone. Let us realise that our need for Your help will never end so we need to learn to trust You more. Amen.