Traditionally people talk about what they ‘give up for Lent’; at work I hear it said by colleagues who may know little more than that about Lent, or what the season is about. If Lent induces a sense of self-discipline, then who are we to criticise.
Committed Christians may not find it adequate to ‘go through the motions’ and want more, or should I say, want less. Before we get to the detail of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, as many of us surely will in the coming days, here is a starting point for challenge in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Saint Paul writes, ‘no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.’
I can only speak for myself when I say, ‘that’s tough’. Temptation is around on every side and many of us will have things that we struggle with, or against. It is convenient to give in and blame the devil; to a point we are right to blame the devil, but we are not right to contend that we cannot resist. If what Paul writes is true, then we all have the power to resist what we claim to be our ‘weakness’.
Expanding on this verse, the Reformation Study Bible states, ‘if God keeps us from temptations greater than we can withstand, we cannot plead our temptations as an excuse for sinning. Sin is never a necessity for a believer’.
When I think about the righteous indignation unleashed against high profile figures, especially politicians, who give way to temptation, then I am struck by the readiness in us all to expect other people to withstand temptation but then to claim that we cannot prevail against it when it is facing us.
If we are serious in our desire to face our own challenges, let’s not fiddle about with chocolate, or puddings or whatever else it is we like to avoid as a virtue but instead, give up giving up in the struggle and face the real demons of the big pressures in our lives that we may never admit to others and barely admit to ourselves.
I need to think about that, I need to pray about that, and I need to focus on the help I get from God, not the pain the devil causes me. How about you?
A Prayer
God, merciful and loving judge, strengthen me to be intolerant of sin in myself and to learn to be ever more dependent on your strength to enable me not to weaken and fall. I ask it for the sake of Jesus, before whose cross I kneel. Amen.