13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
I recall the old bumper sticker-"Lead me not into temptation; I can find it myself." We don't need that much prodding to fall astray, and God isn't the one doing any entrapping. That's not to say that Ol' Sloughfoot might not be doing it, but we shouldn't do our Geraldine imitation too often, since we're more likely to rush headlong into temptation without help.
Jesus in the wilderness was temped in that Satan offered up scenarios that Jesus could abuse His powers, but Jesus didn't bite, even as Satan backed up his pitches with proof-texting. You could say that Satan temped Jesus, but it's a tricky question to say that Jesus was tempted, since a sinless person wouldn't even mull over the prospect of sinful behavior.
However, even the best of us will occasionally mull over a tempting prospect. We might momentarily ponder clicking though the "Hot pictures of [insert starlet]" link at the bottom of an unrelated article before moving on and avoiding the offer. God doesn't nudge us along; we find enough temptation as is, and do well to move quickly past it without giving in.
Comments