Slam The Door

As Christians, Jesus calls us to serve Him with our whole hearts. Actually- with our whole lives.

Deut 6:5 says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

This means serving Him in all that we do. Every action we make, every thought we think, every word we say should be pushing us towards Him. We must purposefully chase after Him. Every aspect of our lives should potentiate our relationship with Him.

In studying the sin of Eve, it is clear to see that she was deceived (I Tim 2:14). She was placed in a perfect world, yet she still fell into deception. She was given so many wonderful things to take advantage of, yet she chose to hang around the one tree she shouldn't have been near. Maybe she thought she was strong enough to handle the temptation of that tree. Maybe she felt like it was not a big deal because she had God's commands in her mind and heart.

Whatever the case, we find ourselves in this same situation daily. We decide what we are going to look at, where we are going to go, and who we are going to be around. Often we convince ourselves that we can be exposed to certain things or situations without it being an issue, because we have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. Some temptations seem so harmless. That's the trick of the enemy. Allowing ourselves little open doors to temptations gives the enemy a chance to move in on us.

Some temptations seem so harmless. 

For Eve, the Serpent found her hanging around that forbidden tree and walked through that door to deceive her. She left open the door of temptation by being where she shouldn't have been. In our lives, if we're not careful, we can be found in the same situation. We leave open what seems to be a harmless door of temptation. We can feel sorry for a hurting coworker who is going through a rough time in a relationship, opening the door to our own emotions, potentially leading to sexual sin. We can find ourselves spending more time on the computer or smart phone tracking other people's lives, neglecting our own families causing stress in the home. We can allow our eyes to view photos of people of things that seem harmless when in reality they are drawing our thoughts towards distracting emotions.

The temptation is often not a sin. It was not wrong of Eve to be near that forbidden fruit. But why leave the door to temptation open when it can potentially lead to sin? The flesh cannot be trusted. No matter how much Holy Ghost you have in your life, you still have flesh. No matter how much time you spend with the Lord, you must still be vigilant about protecting your relationship with God. In protecting your relationship with God, you are also protecting your relationship with your family and church body. Completely avoiding temptation protects your blessings. When Eve ate the fruit, she lost all her blessings of that perfect garden. 

Avoiding temptation protects your blessings. 

The Apostle Paul was fully aware the enemy still uses deception to draw saints away. To the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:3, he warned:

"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." 

Closing this door can seem strange or difficult. It may seem strange to others that you refuse to go out alone for lunch with a coworker of the opposite gender. It may be difficult to release a friendship that could potentially damage your marriage. Or, it may seem like a small, insignificant door, like releasing social media or some other form of entertainment. However, not closing the door can be fatal. No matter how much of a struggle it is to close a door to temptation, it is a much greater struggle to deal with the repercussions of sin. James 1:14-18 reminds us that temptations leads to sin, which results in death.

Not closing the door can be fatal. 

With living for God wholeheartedly, we must be intentional. Every thing we do, say, hear, see, and think has be controlled. We have to allow the flesh to suffer. We must let the Spirit to take over. Being lead by the Spirit is a beautiful thing when we see His blessings, but let us not forget that the blessings have come because of obedience to His Word. Avoiding temptation is most certainly a trend in His Word. Because the temptation isn't always obvious, we can not be too careful.

I Thessalonians 5:22 command us, "Abstain from every form of evil."

So I would suggest to you that you close any doors to temptations that are lingering in your life. Actually, why don't you just slam the door? Don't convince yourself that you are a superhero and temptations that affect others won't affect you. As it says in Matthew 26:41, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Eve never saw that Serpent coming. Be wise in your investments and intentional in building the life God has blessed you with. Slamming the door to temptation is "making no provision for the flesh," as we are commanded to do in Romans 13:14. You are protecting your soul, your eternity, your family.  You are protecting your blessings.


Slam the door!