Taming Temptation: Nothing New Under the “Son!”
Jesus Was Tempted

Scripture: Hebrews 2:14-18

Key Verse: Hebrews 2:18

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

The devil is very clever and scheming.  Not only does he lay traps for us, he tries to make us feel guilty for the traps he lays.  The evil one whispers, “If you were a good Christian you wouldn’t be allured by this!”  For a sincere Christ follower, it never feels right to contemplate those things that we know are not pleasing to the Lord.  We feel bad that we are even considering these thoughts.  In one sense it shows our heart for God because we really don’t want to displease Him.  The flip side of this is when we allow our joy to be taken because we think we should be beyond even having these temptations.

            Our printed key verse reminds us that Jesus Himself was not beyond having temptations while in His human body.  We must remind ourselves, when we feel guilty for “being tempted,” that being tempted is unavoidable—even for Jesus!  Through Christ we never have to fall to temptation, but we will continually face it throughout our lives!

            Our scripture reminds us that Jesus suffered when He was tempted.  In other words, His flesh had to be denied in order to overcome the temptation He was facing.  So it is with us.  We must get comfortable with being uncomfortable when it comes to temptation.  To be an over comer we will suffer in the flesh.  We must deny that which would be pleasurable for a season, but bring disaster later.

“Father, if I face temptation today please remind me that I’m not a bad person for being tempted.  I’ll trust you for strength to overcome!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”