Temptation (post 2) -- Eat the Sweet

Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit. Proverbs 25:6

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of this Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:15,16

Real temptation is like this. It involves something that we both need and enjoy. Adam and Eve were not tested with three-day-old gruel! Eve saw that “the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise.” Genesis 3:6 Similarly, Jesus was tempted with bread at the end of 40 days of fasting.

Food both sustains and is a delight. It is a blatant testimony of God’s goodness. We are not just sustained; we are provided with a feast beyond our wildest imaginations. But is the goodness of God our downfall?

In 1 John, we are told not to love the world or its things. In verse 17, we are given the reason. These things are passing away but the will of God endures forever. In this manner Jesus resisted the temptation of Satan in the desert. [Jesus] answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

When temptation for something sweet arises, we must begin by acknowledging the source of this good thing. Only in humble thankfulness will we be able to eat enough for permanence and not too much for vomiting.

Temptation (post 1) - Like a city without walls

Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. Proverbs 25:28

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:6-8

Is there such a thing as primary and secondary sins? We know that we “lose” our joy when we are in sin (Psalm 32 and 51), so this is a good indicator that we need to confess something. But lacking joy is a sin too! Which comes first?

The verse in Proverbs is talking about something that is a Fruit of the Spirit like joy or peace. If we have it, we are protected from sin and foolishness. If we don’t, we are both in sin and vulnerable for greater sin.

When we think about sins that need confessing, we focus on the obvious ones. Loosing our temper, laziness, breaking a law or envying things that we shouldn’t are some that come to mind. They need to be confessed, but remember that these are generally preceded by a lack of thankfulness, joy and love. If you sense a lack of these, confess them before you get into bigger trouble. Remember that sin progresses from bad to worse (Psalm 19:12-13).

Introduction to this Blog on Proverbs

As if by inspiration, the church father's divided the book of Proverbs into 31 chapters in our English Bibles. This easily allows for a recommended practice of reading a chapter each day of the month. While this may make for good devotional discipline, the subject matter is highly fragmented, leaving the reader with a sense of being overwhelmed.

Twenty-five years ago, I was privileged to take part in a Bible study where the verses of a photocopied version were collected into topics like money, pride, the tongue, etc. I found this exercise strengthened the message both by quantity and by applying the combined analysis of all the proverbs on that topic at one sitting.

You can take this on as a project yourself, or you can follow this blog, where I will be working through the book of Proverbs topically. While one can parse until the cows come home, I have broadened the categories such that I will be able to cover one every other week. During the week, I will be discussing the proverb grouping from the various perspectives provided by individual verses including broader Bible references used for each.

Take your fill!