“God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 NLT)
When you’re hungry, what is it that you most long to have to satisfy that hunger? Often, unfortunately for those of us with Diabetes, our thoughts turn to sweets. For me I envision a warm, bubbling piece of cherry pie with a couple big scoops of Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream.
But here’s the reality, that’s only in my dreams, I can’t, I literally MUST NOT allow myself the fulfillment of that vision if I want to maintain my health. Maybe a bit of each on occasion, but I can’t “feed” that hunger if I want to stay on track with my health.
The same principle applies to our life in Christ. There are “fantasies” or “temptations” that lure us, but we must not give in. But how do we avoid them? We pursue that which we give the most credence. What does that mean? It means though I love cherry pie (I really do 😊), I love feeling good and having a healthy body more.
What do you love more? Satan does not tempt us in moderation. He makes sin so appealing he wants us to believe we CAN’T escape it – BUT THAT’S A LIE! God’s Word is true, and the Bible says God will ALWAYS give us a way of escape! The key is, we MUST take it!
As I’ve mentioned before, a huge temptation to me was lust, sexual, but also material (money, cars, material things). It literally took years to be delivered from those completely, but, by God’s grace, today I’m free. But how? A big factor was training my eyes, ears, and mind to submit to Christ’s Lordship over my life. How did that happen? The Lord enabled me to discipline my thoughts. It may have been Augustine, but one of the old saints said: “You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.”
That may sound silly and common sense but think about it. When does temptation get its foothold? When you ponder it. If you nip it in the proverbial bud, you stop it in its tracks. If I say to you, “Whatever you do, DO NOT, under any circumstance, think of your refrigerator!” Where does your mind immediately go?
It’s not unlike that with temptation. We seem to think if we go to the Lord in prayer begging Him to deliver us from __________, and we keep that continually before Him and, of course, in our mind, what’s going to happen? We’re going to give in every time. So, how do we break the cycle? How does the Lord free us of that nasty, destructive temptation with which we struggle so much?
At the first hint of that temptation, train your eyes, ears, and mind to redirect IMMEDIATELY! For example, I can’t help but see an attractive lady, but I can immediately turn my eyes and refocus on something else. Since temptation is essentially a mind process, I turn my thoughts, thus my mind, to my wife. She’s the most beautiful woman on the planet to me. I love her and treasure what we have as husband and wife. I’m not willing to risk that by turning my thoughts to anyone or anything else that would put our relationship in jeopardy.
Our willingness to entertain lustful or wrong thoughts, in whatever form they may come, are there for the sole purpose of distracting us from our devotion to Jesus and others we love. You are the only one who can say “NO” and turn your thoughts to something wholesome and good.
One thing I’ve used to train my mind is to immediately sing a chorus or recite a verse. Whatever will work for you, but we must train our mind and heart to unrelentingly hunger for Jesus and His holiness and righteousness above all else.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 