Whether evil or good,
the outcome is always predictable.
13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Study of the Scriptures—
We set in motion a course what we cannot control.
God, however, is consistently good and consistently consistent.
(1:12-16) Although it may not at first seem possible, temptation can result in a blessing. Not that temptation itself is something good; it is not. Yet, God has promised to honor those who resist temptation by awarding them with a crown of life. It is all a question of whether we love God more or the temptation more.
We never intended this to happen The guise and direction, of course, are always the same: from desire to enticement, from enticement to sin, and from sin to death. What we initially intend is never the final outcome. That much is predictable. Once evoked, sin irreversibly grows worse, disintegrating all that it touches, progressing relentlessly toward one crowning and revolting achievement. Initially, we might be deceived by sin, but we should have no misgivings about what sin ultimately accomplishes. God does not change ever (1:17-18) Nor should we be deceived about the nature of God. Unlike what we unwittingly bring forth by fickle emotion and desire, God deliberately brings forth what is completely good. In fact, he is the giver of every perfect gift. With him there is neither whimsical motive nor capricious outcome. Indeed, God brings forth a light and blessing which the sun itself cannot equal and he does so with a consistency that no sun could ever match. He also brings us forth as children of his, but our birth (unlike that of sin) is never marked by any deception or wrong. We are given birth by his word of truth. So, if we are born in truth, we should never live a lie, and the words we speak should be the mirror image of the word that made us. |
Questions that touch the heart |
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