Daily Devotion January 11

January 11: 1 Corinthians 5:1-8

KJV Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 5:6
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

Devotion:
It is a difficult thing to imagine how much a little temptation can ruin our lives, but it can happen so easily that it should scare us. God continues to warn us against allowing the small things into our lives that we know will do a little damage because once we let the first things through we are opening our hearts to so much more. We all think we are strong enough to withstand the first five minutes and think we can step back after that and continue on our walk with God as if nothing had happened.

What we don’t realise is that once we have got past that first five minutes we are now open to another ‘easy’ five minutes; and so the snowball effect starts! God does not want us to give in to the first part because He knows we will be open to the next and then the next. We don’t see beyond the first step and think all will be fine as long as we keep an eye on God. Real life does not work like that.

It does not have to start with something we do ourselves either. We may be the ones allowing something to happen just because we think it will not harm anyone in the short term. What we are doing is giving them that first five minutes on a platter and expecting them to be able to resist the next onslaught under their own strength. None of us is strong enough to resist the wiles of the evil one so we should not expect others to have to put up with what we cannot. Think about how you would give in. Think about how it may weaken your soul. Think before allowing someone else to give in to temptation.

Sometimes it is just better to get rid of the temptation from other people’s lives without seeing if they can handle the first five minutes. If we are allowing stumbling blocks to be placed in front of other people just to see if they can weather the storm, are we not doing the evil one’s job for him? Are we not playing at being the devil? Horrible thought, but one we need to consider. Jesus did not go around seeing if men could resist a bit of temptation. Jesus went around telling people they should not go near temptation at all.

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel tempted?

Are you tempting Jesus?