Matthew 6:13
Two weeks ago we talked about temptation, what it is and how to overcome it. I believe the most important thing we learned about temptation is that it is powerless against us unless and until it finds a place of agreement in our hearts. The illustration I used, that makes the most sense to me, is that external temptation, that which comes from Satan and the world around us is like fertilizer rather than seed, it can’t grow alone but when it finds seeds of agreement, a hidden place, thought or desire of the heart it causes it to grow into familiar, binding, enslaving sin. So overcoming temptation is not about trying harder, praying more, changing our environment or an increase of will power it is all about our hearts, tending to our hearts, giving God the freedom to reveal what is truly in us, the places of hurt, of rejection, of rebellion, of deceit and of distrust so that in His revelation He can also bring healing where it is needed, conviction where repentance is required and transformation where the old needs to become new. Today we are going to finish this first half of Matthew 6:13 by talking about our hearts again. We spend a lot of our time talking about sin, rightfully so, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, we are sinners by nature and we live in a sinful world. God deals with sin constantly; Jesus came and died for all sin so that none would have to perish but would all have the opportunity for eternal life. God gave us the gift of repentance so that we would not have to remain under the curse or burden of our sin but could be forgiven and be overcomers. Sin is real and it must be dealt with but at the same time I believe that sin, meaning our actions, our thoughts, our attitudes and beliefs that are not from God or for God, is the symptom that is revealing the true disease of our hearts, what the Bible calls iniquity.