by Rev Douglas Brauner

Jesus is our back door to temptation

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No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 English Standard Version

We look for back doors to escape the messes we create. When Fred Z. Randall got in trouble in the movie, RocketMan, he never took responsibility for his actions. He simply said, “It wasn’t me!” When he wasted most of the food on a trip to Mars he blamed it on a monkey. “It wasn’t me! It was the hairy one!”

Hugo, Colorado

What is your back door of escape? Is it blaming others for your poor decisions? Is it burying your head like nothing ever happened? Is it trying to make up for your mistakes thinking that you can make everything okay?

Paul tells us that the way of escape begins before we make the mistake.

That way of escape has nothing to do with trying to do better, burying our heads or blaming others. The way of escape is found in the heart of God. He is the one who gives us the way out before we even enter in.

Temptations are tough. We all face them. We cannot resist temptation by our own power. There might be times that we think that we’ve conquered the problem only to realize that once again we have fallen.

What is God’s back door to temptation? Jesus is the way of escape. I know, that sounds rather Sunday Schoolish, and it is, but it’s true. Jesus, is our means of escaping temptation. His death, his resurrection, his presence, are both the power to help us fight temptations and the means of redemption when we fail.

God indeed provides the way of escape.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado