I once had a friend who was trying to diet. Caught with a bag of doughnuts, he explained, “I was passing a Krispy Kream store and prayed “Lord, if you want me to buy some donuts, please send me a sign, provide me with a parking space right outside the shop”. And guess what, the Lord answered my prayer. On my tenth time I drove past the shop, there was my parking space.” It was Oscar Wilde who made famous the phrase, “I can resist everything… except temptation.”
We all know what temptation is. Supermarkets still stack sweets at child height. Petrol stations do the same. But if you want the bread or milk where is it? Goodness knows. But the chocolate and sweets – you know where they are don’t you. They follow you all the way from the door to the checkout.
Jesus called us to be fisherman. But did you realise Satan is a good fisherman too? “First, he chooses the right bait. Satan knows us like a skilled angler knows fish. He notes our habits. He observes our hangouts. He’s had thousands of years’ experience preparing tailor-made lures and he knows how to cast them so they drop right in front of our noses. Second comes the appeal. He can’t make us bite, but he does know what happens inside us when we catch a glimpse of that tantalizing bait. We are drawn to it. We linger over it. We toy with it. We roll it over in our minds until it consumes our imagination. Third, the struggle begins. Immediately, our conscience jabs us in the ribs, warning us of the danger. We know it’s wrong to take a bite. We may even see the barbed consequences poking through the bait. But Satan’s invitation looks so delicious. What do we do? Fourth, the temptation ends with the response. Either we resist or yield. Either we swim away or we swallow it whole. When you’ve resisted you know the feeling of freedom that decision brings. On the other hand, when you’ve yielded you know the feeling of emptiness that follows and the pain of the hook in your cheek.”[i]