Key Verse: James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Have you ever wondered why temptation seems to constantly come your way? Some people think that it is the devil constantly tempting them. While this is not completely false, its also not exactly right. The devil tempts us yes, but he does it through his infiltration of our culture. Temptation arises in our mind due to our corrupt desires. As we live in a fallen corrupt world which is full of sin, we allow our own desires to lead us to temptation and into sin. This is what James teaches us. In James 1 we are reminded that temptation arises when we are drawn away by these desires. The word here translated as drawn away pictures a trap with bait in it. Just as a master trapper covers his trap with dirt, and makes the bait look appetizing so too does the devil. He often uses Hollywood to make some sins look so appetizing that we don’t even see the trap! James also uses a fishing illustration of how temptation works in our life by using the word ‘enticed.’ Just a fish is enticed to bite a lure so too when we are drawn away are we enticed to take hold of temptation. This verse shows us that the source of our temptation stems from us not having a hold on our own desires. Truly defeating temptation looks like defeating the desire for that particular sin. The way to do this is by allowing Christ to renew our mind by transforming our desires (Rom 12:2). Each day we must ask Christ to do this. We have to beg Him to change our sinful desires, and make His desires our desires. Until we do this, we will find ourselves constantly struggling with the same sins!
