It’s interesting how temptation works. It’s even more interesting at how often we put ourselves in tempting situations. And when we’re in them, we convince ourselves that we won’t give in. Well, we’ve already given in when we put ourselves out there to be tempted, like we wanted anyway.
I say all of that to say that we really aren’t as smart as we think we are. Yes, God made us special. He made us above animals and so forth. But I think that because we think we’re so smart, we lose ourselves. I believe that we think so highly of ourselves, that sometimes we forget to come back down off of our high. We start thinking we can handle things on our own. We start thinking that because we want certain things and they can be good, that God naturally wants that for us. We start thinking, and stop seeking God.
I had a thought last week about the situations we put ourselves in. The ideas we entertain, that really do open the door for Satan to plant a seed in our mind. And then I started wondering how it could be that we put ourselves in these situations and then think we won’t give in or can get ourselves out? Satan isn’t a dummy. The moment we offer ourselves up to temptation is the moment he comes even harder. So if we secretly wanted it, why do we think he won’t take advantage of that?
We live in a time when everyone has a new answer. There’s a way to defeat the Devil. Try this. Or just do this. But God gave us a way from the very beginning. His Word. We are not going to outsmart Satan. We believe that scripture states he convinced a third of the angels in Heaven to leave (Revelation 12). So he is obviously slicker than your average.
God knew we would need help. And instead of leaving us to come up with something, He gave us His Truth. That’s why we need the Word of God, so that we don’t have to come up with something on our own. When the father of lies comes, you hit him with Truth.