Occasion of Temptation

During my reading the other day, a verse caught my attention.  At the beginning of Christ's ministry, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After responding to each temptation with the truth of scripture, Luke 4:13 says, "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time."  The word "opportune" stood out to me.  The definition of this word in Hebrew is "an occasion, i.e. set or proper time, opportunity, (convenient, due) season."  While Jesus walked the earth, He was in all points tempted and remained without sin.  But the devil did not stay away.  He would be back for another go because he is persistent as he is wicked.

Ephesians 4:27 says Christians must not give place to the devil.  The word translated "place" in Greek means, "spot, location, occasion, or opportunity."  I guarantee Jesus did not give any place to Satan, yet He was tempted by him.  Because we live in a body of flesh, we have the tendency towards sin.  Our capacity for sin is not reduced when we are born again.  Although Jesus did not give the devil a reason to tempt Him, he still did.  There were times when the Father allowed His Son to be tempted.  Even though Jesus resisted every temptation, it did not mean temptation was permanently over.  There would be more seasons of tempting, more opportunities for the deceiver to steal, kill, and destroy.  As long as we walk this earth, we are engaged in an enormous spiritual battle.  It is not a battle of "good against evil" but evil against God.  The lies of Satan must be confronted with the truth of God's word. 

Jesus was sinless yet remained on guard against satanic attacks.  We can liken our defenses to that of armor.  If battle was enjoined and you were without the helmet of salvation, the enemy would target you there through your thoughts or lust of the eyes.  If you drifted off to sleep (spiritually speaking) through habitual sin and thus ignored putting on the breastplate of righteousness, Satan's fiery darts would be aimed with surgical precision at your heart.  God will not only give us a means of defense and resistance, but a way of escape.  Picking up in 1 Cor. 10:8-13 the Word says, "Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; [9] nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; [10] nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. [11] Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. [12] Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. [13] No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Let us be certain we give no opportunity for the devil, no invitation for attack through our negligence of spiritual purity and obedience.  I was thinking:  if you lived in a jungle where poisonous snakes were abundant,  would you sleep with the door open?  Let's say you settle down under the covers and you hear the sound of a glass shattering.  You turn on the light to see a king cobra coiled on your nightstand.  Would you be able to sleep?  Most of us would scream or be paralyzed in fear!  Sleep would be totally out of the question!  Yet spiritually we have the capacity to leave the door open of our hearts, literally inviting evil to be a part of our lives.  If we open the door, sin will come in!  God spoke to Cain in Genesis 4:7:  "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."  Turn on the light of the scripture and freeze the serpent in his tracks.  Be merciless in wielding the Sword of the Spirit, for that old serpent is not fit to live.  Once you have parted head from body with a swift stroke, don't be cocky.  There's plenty more evil outside, and it's always trying to squeeze in.  An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, but sometimes even good preparation is not enough to keep temptation outside.

Because of Cain's fallen state, he could not rule over sin.  Sin ruled over him, resulting not only in the murder of his brother Abel, but he remained without repentance.  We can rule over sin and resist every temptation thrown our way by Satan himself, for "greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)  In this world we will have tribulation, and we will have temptation as well.  Whether you have opened the door voluntarily or God is allowing a season of temptation, be strong in the LORD and the power of His might.  He has given you the spiritual armor of God that girded Christ.  Make sure that it is not a poor fit like King Saul's armor on David.  The Sword of the Spirit wielded through the power of the Holy Spirit is battle tested and true.  Do not fear:  if God has redeemed you from your sins, He has freed you from their grip.  You have the all authority over sin through Christ.  Confess, repent, and follow Him!

Allow me to leave you with one of my favorite passages of scripture:  2 Cor. 10:3-6 states, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. [4] For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, [5] casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, [6] and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled."