Sin Entices

A WARNING, from James

Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death (James 1:13-15)

• God cannot tempt a person to evil thoughts and deeds
• God cannot be tempted by evil

It is almost comical to consider God being tempted. By what? What could an all sufficient, all powerful God, possibly want or need from humans, angels, or the rest of his creation, that he doesn't already have? 

When someone suggests that God instructed them to say this or do that, and it happens to be an evil thing they speak of, they are taking a dangerous liberty by suggesting their choices are God suggested, approved, and promoted. Many attribute to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, what they have conceived, what they want to come to fruition: it is there own sinful desires that entice them and when they follow through on their self-indulgent thoughts by taking action, sin is born, grows fully, and eventually leads to death, after it has become a way of life. Saying God led me, or placed this or that on my heart, or any such nonsense that does not align with his word, casts shadows in his direction; dear reader, attributing to God what wicked men and women commit to, is blasphemous. God cannot go against his own divine and glorious nature; he cannot sin, and he is not inclined to do so, and to suggest otherwise, is dancing with the devil. 

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creation (James 1:16-18)

James understands how deception works, and he aptly lets us know, as his beloved brethren, that good and perfect gifts come from the Father of lights, the very God that gave us the sun, moon, and stars, as lights in the heavens. It is he that illuminates the world without one bit of effort or sweaty browed contribution on the part of humanity. He cannot be darkness, there is not shadow in him, and he does not turn this way or that, changing his will, his ways, his being, like we humans are prone to do. He is a constant, a consistent, always the same God, and for this reason, we can count on and trust in him. 

I like the idea of being brought forth by the word of truth; the word of truth is Jesus! I like being a firstfruit of creation; it makes me grin to think of being a part of God's family through the Saviour of the world. 

• If I say to you, stop sinning, what comes to mind? 
• If you were to take a moment right now, and picture tiny you looking up to the heavens while God looks down, seeing and hearing all your thoughts and recalling all your past actions, is it a little unnerving, as you revisit your history and present life? 

I hope you take the time to do this little exercise as an accountable for yourself human that makes godly, and alternatively, carnal and ungodly decisions, that smell and sound and look like sin to perfect unwavering God. 

You can course correct. We all can. My hope is for corporate, collective repulsion, of all that is evil, and that the stench of sin fills our nostrils and is so repugnant, that we feel inclined toward reformation, refusing to be enticed by temptation, and preferring to honour, obey, and praise the God that made us! 

Sinners gonna sin and saints gonna sanctify ... here is what The Bible has to say about this phenomena, because dear reader, we can tell each other apart:

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one, we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? for we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:16-17)

I want to have the aroma of life, to have the sweet scent of Christ for those that belong to him, and for those that have yet to know him. I do not peddle the word of God for profit, for self-benefit according to my own terms ... I want to be known by him as one of his, and I want this for you too, dear one. There is nothing better in the world for you, then to be counted as one of the family of God.