James 1:13-15 “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
Picture yourself in the scene of a scary movie, que the scary music, and action! You’re walking down a deserted and narrowing road after setting off toward some eerily familiar and enticing voices that seem to be calling your name. As you’re trying to find the source of the voices, there are no streetlights, no people, the air is damp and not easily penetrated by the light. The pavement turns to dirt, you find yourself at the end of the road, you approach an entrance to a forest that is even darker and more ominous than the road you were just on, but the voices are becoming clearer. The danger of the foreboding forest is more obvious, but the sounds draw you in. Your heart pounds, the scary sounds and surroundings are closing in, but you’re nearing the source. It’s not what you thought, it’s a trap! You knew you shouldn’t have walked that dark road; you knew the forest wasn’t safe, you thought the voices were too good to be true, but it’s too late! The source of the enticing sounds was death, now it’s inviting you in, you refuse, but death insists! As death grabs you by the arm, you pull away, screaming, shouting, and begging not to be taken! Death tells you that you shouldn’t have come here, so you tell death it’s not your own fault. First, you blame death for the enticing sounds, then you shift the blame to lack of warning signs, the road wasn’t well lit, the forest had no trail markers, there were no roadblocks, no one stopped you, it wasn’t your fault! But it’s too late, death has no choice but to drag you in… aaand cut scene!
Usually, our entanglement into sin and its consequences are similar. It’s not an instant thing. Rather, it’s a “slow fade” … We see temptation, are drawn in by it, begin to desire it, ignore the warnings, get further enticed into that desire, fall prey to sin, and are finally left with the irreversible consequences and broken pieces it brings. Then, we are left to either respond in repentance or play the blame game and try to cover it up.
To have a firmer grasp on our sinful nature and predisposition to wander after our dark and sinful desires, we must start from the beginning. God created Adam and told him “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen. 2:17). Then, Adam and Eve were tempted and enticed: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Gen 3:6). Adam and Eve tried to run and hide, but God confronted them about their sin. Adam responded by shifting the blame to Eve and Eve responded by shifting the blame to the serpent. Later in Genesis 5:5 the death of Adam is recorded. Sin brought death and we learn that the blame shifting was fruitless. Here, James is trying to get his audience to see that not much has changed. 1.) in our blame shifting, and 2.) in the deadly result of chasing our evil desires.
Some of the Rabbinic teachings of the time that James was responding to, taught that God was responsible for our sin since God created man, man has sinful desires, and man acts upon those sinful desires. Therefore, God is to blame for sin. Here, we see that James wants to shut that way of thinking down! Stop shifting the blame! How we respond to temptation is on us. We can either nourish our sinful desires or starve them. Nourishing them means making excuses and shifting the blame. Starving them means cutting them off and realizing that as an individual you have a specific susceptible nature to sin and you must run from any temptation or desire so that you don’t fall prey to it. See the warning signs, turn, and run! But all too often we find it easier just to follow the enticing voices, ignore all the warning signs, and when we approach the deadly and painful end of sin we make excuse after excuse. “I wouldn’t lose my temper if my kids were more well-behaved, and my wife was more considerate.” “I would have pure thoughts and actions if the culture wasn’t so sexualized, and women dressed more modestly.” “I wouldn’t be such a glutton if I had more time and money to make healthier meals.” “I wouldn’t gossip if they didn’t first bring up that person. It’d be lying if I didn’t tell them.” “I wouldn’t be so worrisome if I didn’t have these health problems or financial stress.” We could go on and on about how we regularly play the blame game with our sinfulness. The reality is, there is no way to evade OUR own sin or guilt. We are the ones who are consciously being dragged away by our own evil desires and acting upon them. So, what’s the solution? 1.) Take ownership over the flesh. Don’t play the blame game. Make conscious choices not to give in to obvious temptations as they arise. It’s not often they sneak up on you. You know what is tempting! 2.) Fill yourself with Christ and your desires will be more for him and not things of this world. 3.) Beg for God’s grace and mercy when you don’t sin and when you do sin!
Picture yourself in the scene of a scary movie, que the scary music, and action! You’re walking down a deserted and narrowing road after setting off toward some eerily familiar and enticing voices that seem to be calling your name. As you’re trying to find the source of the voices, there are no streetlights, no people, the air is damp and not easily penetrated by the light. The pavement turns to dirt, you find yourself at the end of the road, you approach an entrance to a forest that is even darker and more ominous than the road you were just on, but the voices are becoming clearer. The danger of the foreboding forest is more obvious, but the sounds draw you in. Your heart pounds, the scary sounds and surroundings are closing in, but you’re nearing the source. It’s not what you thought, it’s a trap! You knew you shouldn’t have walked that dark road; you knew the forest wasn’t safe, you thought the voices were too good to be true, but it’s too late! The source of the enticing sounds was death, now it’s inviting you in, you refuse, but death insists! As death grabs you by the arm, you pull away, screaming, shouting, and begging not to be taken! Death tells you that you shouldn’t have come here, so you tell death it’s not your own fault. First, you blame death for the enticing sounds, then you shift the blame to lack of warning signs, the road wasn’t well lit, the forest had no trail markers, there were no roadblocks, no one stopped you, it wasn’t your fault! But it’s too late, death has no choice but to drag you in… aaand cut scene!
Usually, our entanglement into sin and its consequences are similar. It’s not an instant thing. Rather, it’s a “slow fade” … We see temptation, are drawn in by it, begin to desire it, ignore the warnings, get further enticed into that desire, fall prey to sin, and are finally left with the irreversible consequences and broken pieces it brings. Then, we are left to either respond in repentance or play the blame game and try to cover it up.
To have a firmer grasp on our sinful nature and predisposition to wander after our dark and sinful desires, we must start from the beginning. God created Adam and told him “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Gen. 2:17). Then, Adam and Eve were tempted and enticed: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Gen 3:6). Adam and Eve tried to run and hide, but God confronted them about their sin. Adam responded by shifting the blame to Eve and Eve responded by shifting the blame to the serpent. Later in Genesis 5:5 the death of Adam is recorded. Sin brought death and we learn that the blame shifting was fruitless. Here, James is trying to get his audience to see that not much has changed. 1.) in our blame shifting, and 2.) in the deadly result of chasing our evil desires.
Some of the Rabbinic teachings of the time that James was responding to, taught that God was responsible for our sin since God created man, man has sinful desires, and man acts upon those sinful desires. Therefore, God is to blame for sin. Here, we see that James wants to shut that way of thinking down! Stop shifting the blame! How we respond to temptation is on us. We can either nourish our sinful desires or starve them. Nourishing them means making excuses and shifting the blame. Starving them means cutting them off and realizing that as an individual you have a specific susceptible nature to sin and you must run from any temptation or desire so that you don’t fall prey to it. See the warning signs, turn, and run! But all too often we find it easier just to follow the enticing voices, ignore all the warning signs, and when we approach the deadly and painful end of sin we make excuse after excuse. “I wouldn’t lose my temper if my kids were more well-behaved, and my wife was more considerate.” “I would have pure thoughts and actions if the culture wasn’t so sexualized, and women dressed more modestly.” “I wouldn’t be such a glutton if I had more time and money to make healthier meals.” “I wouldn’t gossip if they didn’t first bring up that person. It’d be lying if I didn’t tell them.” “I wouldn’t be so worrisome if I didn’t have these health problems or financial stress.” We could go on and on about how we regularly play the blame game with our sinfulness. The reality is, there is no way to evade OUR own sin or guilt. We are the ones who are consciously being dragged away by our own evil desires and acting upon them. So, what’s the solution? 1.) Take ownership over the flesh. Don’t play the blame game. Make conscious choices not to give in to obvious temptations as they arise. It’s not often they sneak up on you. You know what is tempting! 2.) Fill yourself with Christ and your desires will be more for him and not things of this world. 3.) Beg for God’s grace and mercy when you don’t sin and when you do sin!