Beloved, I am glad to share with you today on the seductions that lead to temptation. The weakening of Eve’s faith in the goodness of God is the cause of the fall because there are three lusts that come on as faith in God fades away. First of all, it is the lust of the flesh: the fruit was good to eat. Then, the lust of the eyes: the fruit was nice to see. Finally, the lust of pride: to become intelligent.
But it is important to mention that today’s world is full of vectors of lust that stem from advances in science matters.
Let’s recall the main seductions that the Bible tells us:
- the seduction of the forbidden fruit: Genesis 3.6 ” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” The pride of becoming the equals of God has brought them down.
- the seduction of the fertile plain: Genesis 13. 10-11 10 ” Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company:” That’s how they separated from each other. Lot’s lack of humility coupled with the lust of his eyes cost him what happened to him afterwards.
(This is why God destroyed the two cities: Geneva 13.13 ” Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.”)
- the seduction of the appetite: Genesis 25.29-30 29 ” Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m hungry!” (That is why he was also called Edom)”. See how a man can lose a lot for having been seduced by the appetite. He ends up losing everything, which is very unfortunate.
(Genesis 25,33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob said, Swear to me first. He swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob.
- the seduction of silver and gold: Joshua 7.21 ” When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” Akan knew by the law of Moses that it is forbidden to steal, but he let himself be seduced by seeing the plunder.
- The seduction of Samson at his marriage to the daughter of the Philistines: Judges 14.17 ” She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.” Samson asked his parents to take a wife from the Philistines and this was a trap for him. He lost his eyes first, and then perished in the house he has pushed to fall, and in one day, he killed more people than in all his life, because Jehovah had answered his last prayer.
Judges 16.17 ” So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” He did not know she was there to betray him, his eyes being blinded by the beauty of Delila.
- the seduction of women: Mark 10.35-37 35 ” Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” Indeed, the mother of the sons of Zebedee demonstrated pride, that only her two sons surround the Lord, while there were many around Jesus. In addition, once one has been forgiven, it is essential to stay clean, so that a worse situation does not happen to us.
This is why it is written in 2 Peter 2:20: ” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.”
So ultimately, if we avoid walking by sight, living according to the flesh, according to our personal convictions, we can easily succumb to temptation, while we must resist it by our faith and by obedience to Christ, for He is the way, the truth and the life. Indeed, if Adam, Eve, Lot, Esau, Samson, Akan, the sons of Zebedee had remained humble and lived in the obedience and fear of the Lord, they would not have yielded to lust. Let us fear the Lord and walk with the spirit and the truth. Our prayers are with you in your efforts.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me as follows :
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my Lord and personal Savior. I acknowledge that you died on the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me each day to eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal to me and strengthen my heart and my faith so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me in your divine family so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all adoration, power, and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be glad to revert on your queries and comments, before sharing with you next week on the pitfalls of the world, as sources of temptation.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you in abundance.
David Feze, Servant of the Lord of armies.