“The devil made me do it,” they say. Nope! Everyone looks for excuses for their shortcomings. Truth is we all have sinned. The Bible makes that clear in Romans 3:23. We think blaming our mistakes on the devil lets us off the hook?
What rich words! What I know and endure is common. Humanity knows it well. I’m not alone in my temptations and struggles. And! And God is standing as an advocate for me. God created me and knows my every thought so He knows where my limits are and protects me from what I cannot handle. I try to protect my children. I warn them because I love them and I want no harm to come to them. Sin is more than harmful, it’s destructive! It’s ultimate goal is to separate us from God and to keep us from what God has for us.
Not only does God protect His people from temptation, this verse also tells us God always provides for us a way out! We are never cornered, never totally stuck and never controlled. There’s a way out. I’ve learned the way out sometimes is humiliating. Sometimes it has consequences but what matters most is what God knows and what God thinks of us. When Joseph ran away so fast from Potiphar’s wife that he ran out of his coat and she was left standing there in rejection so she dove deeper in her sin and lied saying he raped her. Joseph was clean in God’s eyes but Potiphar chose to believe his wife and Joseph went to jail. You can read this in Genesis 39.
Priorities. I didn’t care anything about sin until I gave my life to the Lord. After that, all that mattered is what God thinks. Am I pleasing God? That’s the overarching question that should hang over our lives. This question puts priorities in place for me. Never mind what humans think: it’s God’s opinion that matters most in this life and the next. There is no next life without God. So many wanting to elevate themselves. We get nowhere in doing that. We only advance when we elevate God.
The next time I’m tempted I can know it’s normal. It’s common and nothing out of the ordinary. I have a way out. I can look for a way out. It might be hard but God walks with me. God guides softly and lovingly. God is faithful and will never let us down. I’ll have what I need to get out, to flee and to say no. I know God will do the same for you as well. Step into the light. Let God wash you and provide a way out. If you are a believer, this life is our hell but our Heaven is on the way!
Jeni Martin Johnson 
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