When your heart is right with God

“Lead Us Not into Temptation”

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Matthew 6:9–13

I heard the story of a father who told his son not to go swimming in a canal. Although many children thought of it as a great place to swim, the father knew it could be dangerous. The son agreed not to swim in it, but when he came home with a wet swimsuit, the father asked where he had been. “Swimming in the canal,” answered the boy. “Didn’t I tell you not to swim there? Why did you?” asked the father. “Well, Dad,” he explained, “I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.” “Why did you take your bathing suit with you?” the father questioned. “So I’d be prepared to swim, just in case I was tempted,” the boy replied.
The allure of sin is great, and no Christian is immune from its pull. Yet often rather than following the instruction of Jesus and praying to be delivered from places of temptation, we intentionally choose to walk as close to the edge as we can. Like Lot setting up his tent so that he saw Sodom every time he went out the door, we want to see what is going on in the world as much as we can.
As a result, we are often tempted because we have placed ourselves in a situation where it is easy to be tempted. Instead we should do all we can to keep our distance. “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). No Christian, no matter how mature, is able to play with temptation without eventually yielding to it.

Today’s Growth Principle:

There is no safe approach distance to temptation—stay as far away as you can.

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But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." --1 Samuel 16:7 In the verse above, we see a snapshot of the scene when Jesse paraded his seven sons in front of Samuel the prophet. They were seven of the best-looking, most impressive group of young men in all of Bethlehem. But their hearts weren’t yielded to God! And they were rejected. On the other hand, there was David, the least likely and least impressive son of Jesse by human standards. The day Samuel came to town, he was out in the field, faithfully keeping the sheep. And God told Samuel to choose him! When your heart is right with God, He can lift you to new heights and enlarge your service for Him wherever you are. In fact, Jesus tells us in Luke 16:10, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much….” You may not be an intellectual. You may not have much money. Like David, you may not be as outwardly impressive as others around you. But as a follower of Christ, God knows your heart…and He wants to use you. God can make a king out of a pauper…if your heart is wholly His! When your heart is right with God, He can lift you to new heights!