Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– F.B. Meyer
Choose Your Friends
There are some things you can’t choose, but you can choose your friends, and if your friends are going places that you know are wrong, you may have to change friends. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals” (1st Cor 15:33) and he asks, “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality” (1st Cor 6:9), so we have no business running with those who run with the Devil.
Avoid Trouble Spots
I think it’s unwise for a former alcoholic to visit bars because it’s too much of a temptation to be around alcohol. If you are a Christian and you have a friend who has battled with alcohol, please don’t take him or her into such an environment where they might stumble and fall into sin again. Friends don’t do that.
Run, if Necessary
The Bible commands us to “Abstain from every form of evil” (1st Thess 5:22), meaning if we encounter evil things, we are to abstain from participating in them, and even if it looks evil, don’t do it! Better yet, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Memorizing Scripture
Maybe you’re in a spot where you can’t really run away from the temptation. I was forced to watch an inflight movie traveling to Chicago one time and the movie was obviously rated R so I had to find other things to do, like read my Bible. When my eyes are exposed to such filthy images, I remember what Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin” (Job 31:1)?
No Excuses
When we are tempted, the last thing we can use as an excuse is, “I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death” (James 1:13-15). Don’t blame God…we are responsible for our own sins.
Conclusion
James wrote “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12), and remember that “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1st Cor 10:13).
