{"id":281,"date":"2020-11-02T20:38:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T01:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=281"},"modified":"2020-12-07T20:54:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T01:54:35","slug":"lead-us-not-into-temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/02\/lead-us-not-into-temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lead Us Not into Temptation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
And lead us not into temptation,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wouldn\u2019t it be great if there were a 67th<\/sup> book of the Bible, one reserved for all the verses that people think are verses but never have been verses?

We could call it the book of Hesitations. 

Hesitations 3:16: \u201cGod helps those who help themselves.\u201d  Despite the fact it\u2019s routinely quoted with biblical conviction, that\u2019s actually the gospel according to Ben Franklin.

Hesitations 7:11:  \u201cCleanliness is next to godliness.\u201d  Moms wish this one was in there, but it\u2019s not. 

Hesitations 5:5:  \u201cMoney is the root of all evil.\u201d  But isn\u2019t there something like that in the Bible?  Check out I Timothy 6:10: \u201cThe love <\/u><\/em>of money is a<\/u><\/em> root of all kinds<\/u><\/em> of evil.\u201d  That\u2019s a significantly different message. 

Hesitations 9:11:  \u201cGod works in mysterious ways.\u201d  Yes, he does, even though Scripture never explicitly says so. 

Then there\u2019s the mother of all Bible verse wannabes.  Let\u2019s call it Hesitations 1:1:  \u201cGod will never give you more than you can bear.\u201d  That sounds like something a nice deity might promise.  But anyone who has endeavored to walk with God for more than 24 hours realizes that just the opposite is true: Our heavenly Father routinely <\/em>allows us to experience more than we can bear, for the simple reason that we\u2019ve been called to a lean-on-God life, not an existence where we\u2019re supposed to figure out how to be in control. 

Here we arrive at Jesus\u2019 sixth request in the Lord\u2019s Prayer: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil<\/strong> (or the Evil One<\/strong>, a more accurate translation). 

We smile at the bumper sticker that says, \u201cLead me not into temptation.  I can find it all by myself.\u201d  But why in the world are we even making this request?  Do we really have to ask God not to set us up for a big fall? 

Actually, this is a Hebraic way of speaking.  In ancient Israel, if you wanted to make a positive statement, one option was to negate its opposite.  Instead of saying, \u201cHelp me do this,\u201d you might make a considerably stronger statement by saying, \u201cHelp me not<\/u><\/em> do what I don\u2019t<\/u><\/em> want to do.\u201d 

Thus our prayer becomes: \u201cLord, when I have the desire to disobey you, keep me away from the opportunity.  And when I have the opportunity, please kill the desire!  May desires and opportunities to break your heart never have a chance to meet.\u201d

That makes this a vote of no-confidence in our own abilities. 

We\u2019re admitting that we cannot stand up under excruciating pressure.  Father, keep us from spirit-crushing trials \u2013 both of our own making and those engineered by our primary spiritual enemy.  Keep us from falling, since we know that apart from your grace, temptation is likely to overwhelm us. 

For all too many of us, the 2020 election cycle has generated temptations that feel too great to bear. 

Some of us are tempted to disdain and dismiss our neighbors \u2013 the ones who display campaign signs for the politicians we can\u2019t stand.    

Some of us are tempted to feel fear:  What happens if there\u2019s widespread social turmoil?  We may even be tempted to feel despair, which is a particular kind of fear \u2013 the fear that there’s no hope for a happy outcome, and that evil is going to win out. 

Some of us are tempted to embrace cynicism.  Cynics, after all, seem like smart people.  They know the score.  They\u2019re shrewd enough to protect themselves from disappointment \u2013 but only at a terrible cost.  Cynics end up protecting themselves from commitment \u2013 and a life in which we hold back from giving ourselves to what is good, true, and beautiful is not worth living.   

Most of all, some of us are tempted to think that because God doesn\u2019t seem to be in control, we had better take control.  But every scenario in which we imagine grabbing the reins feels like a betrayal of the path to which we are called. 

This is a good day to pray as never before: \u201cFather, steer us clear from anything that would tempt us to think the world is a hopeless mess.\u201d

And this is a good day to keep words like these close at hand: \u201cSo do not fear, for I am with you.  Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.\u201d

That\u2019s Isaiah 41:10.

Best of all, it’s really in the Bible.     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wouldn\u2019t it be great if there were a 67th book of the Bible, one reserved for all the verses that people think are verses but never have been verses? We could call it the book of Hesitations.  Hesitations 3:16: \u201cGod helps those who help themselves.\u201d  Despite the fact it\u2019s routinely quoted with biblical conviction, that\u2019s actually the gospel according to… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[92,91],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fake-bible-verses","tag-temptation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions\/283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}