Loved, Redeemed and Chosen

Day 225

'And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

Matthew 6:13

Temptation. The first word that comes into my head is chocolate - who here is tempted by chocolate? Milk, dark, white, sea-salted caramel flavour... I'm dreaming of it now... Anyway, back to temptation. Why are we tempted by things? Let's go back to the chocolate example. It just seems so good, even though we know it's not healthy and probably isn't going to help us in any way. Because it's just in our reach, and looks so appetising, we are tempted to get it.

I used a bit of a mild example compared to the sort of temptation Jesus is talking about in this prayer. But let's face it, we all feel tempted at some point or other to sin. It's human nature, and always has been, right from the beginning of time with Adam and Eve. A big temptation in many girl's lives is to gossip about others. Why? Because everyone else is doing it. The media tempts us - every advert tells us to buy their product, every TV show tells us to live like those characters, every pop star tempts us to hate ourselves.

So in a world where there always has been so much temptation, how do we overcome it? How do we overcome the devil? Well, who is the one person who has overcome sin, overcome death, overcome Satan? I think we all know that's Jesus. We can resist temptation with the power of God almighty behind us. All we simply have to do is ask God for help in every tricky situation. He will never abandon us. He delivers us from the Evil one, because he is our father, King over all the Earth and our saviour.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank you that you hold me close and you never let go. Thank you that you have defeated death and sin no longer binds me. Please give me the power to resist temptation. Help me to know that what you have got in store for me is better than anything the world has to offer.

Amen